Produced by Marius Masi, Don Kretz and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net









Transcriber's notes:

(1) Numbers following letters (without space) like C2 were originally
      printed in subscript. Letter subscripts are preceded by an
      underscore, like C_n.

(2) Characters following a carat (^) were printed in superscript.

(3) Side-notes were relocated to function as titles of their respective
      paragraphs.

(4) Macrons and breves above letters and dots below letters were not
      inserted.

(5) The following typographical errors have been corrected:

    ARTICLE BLEACHING: "Coal gas mixed with air is sent under pressure
      through pipe a into the burners b, b, where the mixture burns with
      an intense heat." 'into' amended from 'ino'.

    ARTICLE BLUEBEARD: "BLUEBEARD, the monster of Charles Perrault's
      tale of Barbe Bleue, who murdered his wives and hid their bodies in
      a locked room. Perrault's tale was first printed in his Histoires
      et contes du temps passé (1697)." 'temps' amended from 'tems'.




          ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA

  A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE
           AND GENERAL INFORMATION

              ELEVENTH EDITION


             VOLUME IV, SLICE I

             Bisharin to Bohea




ARTICLES IN THIS SLICE:


  BISHÂRÎN                          BLENDE
  BISHOP, SIR HENRY ROWLEY          BLENHEIM
  BISHOP, ISABELLA                  BLENNERHASSETT, HARMAN
  BISHOP                            BLERA
  BISHOP AUCKLAND                   BLESSINGTON, MARGUERITE
  BISHOP'S CASTLE                   BLIDA
  BISHOP STORTFORD                  BLIGH, WILLIAM
  BISKRA                            BLIND, MATHILDE
  BISLEY                            BLIND HOOKEY
  BISMARCK, OTTO LEOPOLD VON        BLINDING
  BISMARCK (North Dakota, U.S.A.)   BLINDMAN'S-BUFF
  BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO              BLINDNESS
  BISMILLAH                         BLISS, CORNELIUS NEWTON
  BISMUTH                           BLISTER
  BISMUTHITE                        BLIZZARD
  BISMYA                            BLOCK, MARK ELIEZER
  BISON                             BLOCK, MAURICE
  BISQUE                            BLOCK
  BISSELL, GEORGE EDWIN             BLOCKADE
  BISSEXT                           BLOCKHOUSE
  BISTRE                            BLOEMAERT, ABRAHAM
  BIT                               BLOEMEN, JAN FRANS VAN
  BITHUR                            BLOEMFONTEIN
  BITHYNIA                          BLOET, ROBERT
  BITLIS                            BLOIS, LOUIS DE
  BITONTO                           BLOIS
  BITSCH                            BLOIS (Countship of)
  BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS     BLOMEFIELD, FRANCIS
  BITTERFELD                        BLOMFIELD, SIR ARTHUR WILLIAM
  BITTERLING                        BLOMFIELD, CHARLES JAMES
  BITTERN (bird)                    BLOMFIELD, EDWARD VALENTINE
  BITTERN (liquor)                  BLONDEL, DAVID
  BITTERS                           BLONDEL, JACQUES FRANÇOIS
  BITUMEN                           BLONDIN
  BITURIGES                         BLOOD
  BITZIUS, ALBRECHT                 BLOOD-LETTING
  BIVOUAC                           BLOOD-MONEY
  BIWA                              BLOODSTONE
  BIXIO, NINO                       BLOOM
  BIZERTA                           BLOOMER, AMELIA JENKS
  BIZET GEORGES                     BLOOMFIELD, MAURICE
  BJÖRNEBORG                        BLOOMFIELD, ROBERT
  BJÖRNSON, BJÖRNSTJERNE            BLOOMFIELD
  BLACHFORD, FREDERIC ROGERS        BLOOMINGTON (Illinois, U.S.A.)
  BLACK, ADAM                       BLOOMINGTON (Indiana, U.S.A.)
  BLACK, JEREMIAH SULLIVAN          BLOOMSBURG
  BLACK, JOSEPH                     BLOUNT, CHARLES
  BLACK, WILLIAM                    BLOUNT, EDWARD
  BLACK APE                         BLOUNT, THOMAS
  BLACKBALL                         BLOUNT, SIR THOMAS POPE
  BLACKBERRY                        BLOUNT, WILLIAM
  BLACKBIRD                         BLOUSE
  BLACK BUCK                        BLOW, JOHN
  BLACKBURN, COLIN BLACKBURN        BLOW-GUN
  BLACKBURN, JONATHAN               BLOWITZ, HENRI GEORGES ADOLPHE DE
  BLACKBURN                         BLOWPIPE
  BLACKBURNE, FRANCIS               BLÜCHER, GEBHARD LEBERECHT VON
  BLACKCOCK                         BLUE
  BLACK COUNTRY, THE                BLUEBEARD
  BLACK DROP                        BLUE-BOOK
  BLACKFOOT                         BLUESTOCKING
  BLACK FOREST                      BLUFF
  BLACK HAWK                        BLUM, ROBERT FREDERICK
  BLACKHEATH                        BLUMENBACH, JOHANN FRIEDRICH
  BLACK HILLS                       BLUMENTHAL, LEONHARD
  BLACKIE, JOHN STUART              BLUNDERBUSS
  BLACK ISLE                        BLUNT, JOHN HENRY
  BLACKLOCK, THOMAS                 BLUNT, JOHN JAMES
  BLACKMAIL                         BLUNT, WILFRID SCAWEN
  BLACKMORE, SIR RICHARD            BLUNTSCHLI, JOHANN KASPAR
  BLACKMORE, RICHARD DODDRIDGE      BLYTH
  BLACK MOUNTAIN                    B'NAI B'RITH, INDEPENDENT ORDER OF
  BLACKPOOL                         BOA
  BLACK ROD                         BOABDIL
  BLACK SEA (body of water)         BOADICEA
  BLACK SEA (district of Russia)    BOAR
  BLACKSTONE, SIR WILLIAM           BOARD
  BLACK VEIL                        BOARDING-HOUSE
  BLACKWATER                        BOARDING-OUT SYSTEM
  BLACKWATER FEVER                  BOARDMAN, GEORGE DANA
  BLACKWELL, THOMAS                 BOASE, HENRY SAMUEL
  BLACKWOOD, WILLIAM                BOAT
  BLADDER                           BOATSWAIN
  BLADDER AND PROSTATE DISEASES     BOBBILI
  BLADDER-WORT                      BOBBIO
  BLADES, WILLIAM                   BOBER
  BLAENAVON                         BOBRUISK
  BLAGOVYESHCHENSK                  BOCAGE, MANUEL MARIA BARBOSA DE
  BLAIKIE, WILLIAM GARDEN           BOCAGE
  BLAINE, JAMES GILLESPIE           BOCCACCIO, GIOVANNI
  BLAINVILLE, HENRI DUCROTAY DE     BOCCALINI, TRAJANO
  BLAIR, FRANCIS PRESTON            BOCCHERINI, LUIGI
  BLAIR, HUGH                       BOCCHUS
  BLAIR, JAMES                      BOCHART, SAMUEL
  BLAIR, ROBERT                     BOCHOLT
  BLAIR ATHOLL                      BOCHUM
  BLAIRGOWRIE                       BÖCKH, PHILIPP AUGUST
  BLAKE, EDWARD                     BÖCKLIN, ARNOLD
  BLAKE, ROBERT                     BOCLAND
  BLAKE, WILLIAM                    BOCSKAY, STEPHEN
  BLAKELOCK, RALPH ALBERT           BODE, JOHANN ELERT
  BLAKENEY, WILLIAM BLAKENEY        BODEL, JEHAN
  BLAKESLEY, JOSEPH WILLIAMS        BODENBACH
  BLAMIRE, SUSANNA                  BODENSTEDT, FRIEDRICH MARTIN VON
  BLANC, LOUIS                      BODHI VAMSA
  BLANC, MONT                       BODICHON, BARBARA LEIGH SMITH
  BLANCHARD, SAMUEL LAMAN           BODIN, JEAN
  BLANCHE, JACQUES ÉMILE            BODKIN
  BLANCHE OF CASTILE                BODLE
  BLANCH FEE                        BODLEY, GEORGE FREDERICK
  BLANDFORD                         BODLEY, SIR THOMAS
  BLANDRATA, GIORGIO                BODMER, JOHANN JAKOB
  BLANE, SIR GILBERT                BODMIN
  BLANFORD, WILLIAM THOMAS          BODÖ
  BLANK                             BODONI, GIAMBATTISTA
  BLANKENBERGHE                     BODY-SNATCHING
  BLANKENBURG                       BOECE, HECTOR
  BLANKETEERS                       BOEHM, SIR JOSEPH EDGAR
  BLANK VERSE                       BOEHM VON BAWERK, EUGEN
  BLANQUI, JERÔME ADOLPHE           BOEHME, JAKOB
  BLANQUI, LOUIS AUGUSTE            BOEOTIA
  BLANTYRE (town of Central Africa) BOER
  BLANTYRE (parish of Scotland)     BOERHAAVE, HERMANN
  BLARNEY                           BOETHUS
  BLASHFIELD, EDWIN HOWLAND         BOETIUS, ANICIUS MANLIUS SEVERINUS
  BLASIUS, SAINT                    BOG
  BLASPHEMY                         BOGATZKY, KARL HEINRICH VON
  BLASS, FRIEDRICH                  BOGHAZ KEUI
  BLASTING                          BOGIE
  BLAUBEUREN                        BOGNOR
  BLAVATSKY, HELENA PETROVNA        BOGÓ
  BLAYDES, FREDERICK HENRY MARVELL  BOGODUKHOV
  BLAYDON                           BOGOMILS
  BLAYE-ET-STE LUCE                 BOGORODSK
  BLAZE                             BOGOS
  BLAZON                            BOGOTÁ
  BLEACHING                         BOGRA
  BLEAK                             BOGUE, DAVID
  BLEEK, FRIEDRICH                  BOGUS
  BLEEK, WILHELM HEINRICH IMMANUEL  BOHEA




BISHÂRÎN (the anc. _Ichthyophagi_), a nomad tribe of African "Arabs," of
Hamitic origin, dwelling in the eastern part of the Nubian desert. In
the middle ages they were known as Beja (q.v.), and they are the most
characteristic of the Nubian "Arabs." With the Abâbda and Hadendoa they
represent the Blemmyes of classical writers. Linguistically and
geographically the Bishârîn form a connecting link between the Hamitic
populations and the Egyptians. Nominally they are Mahommedans. They,
however, preserve some non-Islamic religious practices, and exhibit
traces of animal-worship in their rule of never killing the serpent or
the partridge, which are regarded as sacred.




BISHOP, SIR HENRY ROWLEY (1786-1855), English musical composer, was born
in London on the 18th of November 1786. He received his artistic
training from Francisco Bianchi, and in 1804 wrote the music to a piece
called _Angelina_, which was performed at Margate. His next composition
was the music to the ballet of _Tamerlan et Bajazet_, produced in 1806
at the King's theatre. This proved successful, and was followed within
two years by several others, of which _Caractacus_, a pantomimic ballet,
written for Drury Lane, may be named. In 1809 his first opera, _The
Circassian's Bride_, was produced at Drury Lane; but unfortunately the
theatre was burned down after one performance, and the score of the work
perished in the flames. His next work of importance, the opera of _The
Maniac_, written for the Lyceum in 1810, established his reputation, and
probably secured for him an appointment for three years as composer for
Covent Garden theatre. The numerous works--operas, burlettas, cantatas,
incidental music to Shakespeare's plays, &c.--which he composed while in
this position, are in great part forgotten. The most successful
were--_The Virgin of the Sun_ (1812), _The Miller and his Men_ (1813),
_Guy Mannering_ and _The Slave_ (1816), _Maid Marian_ and _Clari_,
introducing the well-known air of "Home, Sweet Home" (1822). In 1825
Bishop was induced by Elliston to transfer his services from Covent
Garden to the rival house in Drury Lane, for which he wrote with unusual
care the opera of _Aladdin_, intended to compete with Weber's _Oberon_,
commissioned by the other house. The result was a failure, and with
_Aladdin_ Bishop's career as an operatic composer may be said to close.
On the formation of the Philharmonic Society (1813) Bishop was appointed
one of the directors, and he took his turn as conductor of its concerts
during the period when that office was held by different musicians in
rotation. In 1830 he was appointed musical director at Vauxhall; and it
was in the course of this engagement that he wrote the popular song "My
Pretty Jane." His sacred cantata, _The Seventh Day_, was written for the
Philharmonic Society and performed in 1833. In 1839 he was made bachelor
in music at Oxford. In 1841 he was appointed to the Reid chair of music
in the university of Edinburgh, but he resigned the office in 1843. He
was knighted in 1842, being the first musician who ever received that
honour. In 1848 he succeeded Dr Crotch in the chair of music at Oxford.
The music for the ode on the occasion of the installation of Lord Derby
as chancellor of the university (1853) proved to be his last work. He
died on the 30th of April 1855 in impoverished circumstances, though few
composers ever made more by their labours. Bishop was twice married: to
Miss Lyon and Miss Anne Rivière. Both he and his wives were singers. His
name lives in connexion with his numerous glees, songs and smaller
compositions. His melodies are clear, flowing, appropriate and often
charming; and his harmony is always pure, simple and sweet.




BISHOP, ISABELLA (1832-1904), English traveller and author, daughter of
the Rev. Edward Bird, rector of Tattenhall, Cheshire, was born in
Yorkshire on the 15th of October 1832. Isabella Bird began to travel
when she was twenty-two. Her first book, _The Englishwoman in America_
(1856), consisted of her correspondence during a visit to Canada
undertaken for her health. She visited the Rocky Mountains, the South
Pacific, Australia and New Zealand, producing some brightly written
books of travel. But her reputation was made by the records of her
extensive travels in Asia: _Unbeaten Tracks in Japan_ (2 vols., 1880),
_Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan_ (2 vols., 1891), _Among the Tibetans_
(1894), _Korea and her Neighbours_ (2 vols., 1898), _The Yangtze Valley
and Beyond_ (1899), _Chinese Pictures_ (1900). She married in 1881 Dr
John Bishop, an Edinburgh physician, and was left a widow in 1886. In
1892 she became the first lady fellow of the Royal Geographical Society,
and in 1901 she rode a thousand miles in Morocco and the Atlas
Mountains. She died in Edinburgh on the 7th of October 1904.

  See Anna M. Stoddart, _The Life of Isabella Bird_ (1906).




BISHOP (A.S. _bisceop_, from Lat. _episcopus_, Gr. [Greek: episkopos],
"overlooker" or "overseer"), in certain branches of the Christian
Church, an ecclesiastic consecrated or set apart to perform certain
spiritual functions, and to exercise oversight over the lower clergy
(priests or presbyters, deacons, &c.). In the Catholic Church bishops
take rank at the head of the sacerdotal hierarchy, and have certain
spiritual powers peculiar to their office, but opinion has long been
divided as to whether they constitute a separate order or form merely a
higher degree of the order of priests (_ordo sacerdotium_).


  Roman Catholic.

In the Roman Catholic Church the bishop belongs to the highest order of
the hierarchy, and in this respect is the peer even of the pope, who
addresses him as "venerable brother." By the decree of the council of
Trent he must be thirty years of age, of legitimate birth, and of
approved learning and virtue. The method of his selection varies in
different countries. In France, under the Concordat, the sovereign--and
under the republic the president--had the right of nomination. The same
is true of Austria (except four sees), Bavaria, Spain and Portugal. In
some countries the bishop is elected by the cathedral chapter (as in
Württemberg), or by the bishops of the provinces (as in Ireland). In
others, as in Great Britain, the United States of America and Belgium,
the pope selects one out of a list submitted by the chapter. In all
cases the nomination or election is subject to confirmation by the Holy
See. Before this is granted the candidate is submitted to a double
examination as to his fitness, first by a papal delegate at his place of
residence (_processus informativus in partibus electi_), and afterwards
by the Roman Congregation of Cardinals assigned for this purpose
(_processus electionis definitivus in curia_). In the event of both
processes proving satisfactory, the bishop-elect is confirmed,
preconized, and so far promoted that he is allowed to exercise the
rights of jurisdiction in his see. He cannot, however, exercise the
functions proper to the episcopal _order_ (_potestas ordinis_) until his
consecration, which ordinarily takes place within three months of his
confirmation. The bishop is consecrated, after taking the oath of
fidelity to the Holy See, and subscribing the profession of faith, by a
bishop appointed by the pope for the purpose, assisted by at least two
other bishops or prelates, the main features of the act being the laying
on of hands, the anointing with oil, and the delivery of the pastoral
staff and other symbols of the office. After consecration the new bishop
is solemnly enthroned and blesses the assembled congregation.

The _potestas ordinis_ of the bishop is not peculiar to the Roman
Church, and, in general, is claimed by all bishops, whether Oriental or
Anglican, belonging to churches which have retained the Catholic
tradition in this respect. Besides the full functions of the
presbyterate, or priesthood, bishops have the sole right (1) to confer
holy orders, (2) to administer confirmation, (3) to prepare the holy
oil, or chrism, (4) to consecrate sacred places or utensils (churches,
churchyards, altars, &c.), (5) to give the benediction to abbots and
abbesses, (6) to anoint kings. In the matter of their rights of
jurisdiction, however, Roman Catholic bishops differ from others in
their peculiar responsibility to the Holy See. Some of their powers of
legislation and administration they possess _motu proprio_ in virtue of
their position as diocesan bishops, others they enjoy under special
faculties granted by the Holy See; but all bishops are bound, by an oath
taken at the time of their consecration, to go to Rome at fixed
intervals (_visitare sacra limina apostolorum_) to report in person, and
in writing, on the state of their dioceses.

The Roman bishop ranks immediately after the cardinals; he is styled
_reverendissimus_, _sanctissimus_ or _beatissimus_. In English the style
is "Right Reverend"; the bishop being addressed as "my lord bishop."

The insignia (_pontificalia_ or pontificals) of the Roman Catholic
bishop are (1) a ring with a jewel, symbolizing fidelity to the church,
(2) the pastoral staff, (3) the pectoral cross, (4) the vestments,
consisting of the caligae, stockings and sandals, the tunicle, and
purple gloves, (5) the mitre, symbol of the royal priesthood, (6) the
throne (cathedra), surmounted by a baldachin or canopy, on the gospel
side of the choir in the cathedral church.


  Anglican.

The spiritual function and character of the Anglican bishops, allowing
for the doctrinal changes effected at the Reformation, are similar to
those of the Roman. They alone can administer the rite of confirmation,
ordain priests and deacons, and exercise a certain dispensing power. In
the established Church of England the appointment of bishops is vested
effectively in the crown, though the old form of election by the
cathedral chapter is retained. They must be learned presbyters at least
thirty years of age, born in lawful wedlock, and of good life and
behaviour. The mode of appointment is regulated by 25 Henry VIII. c. 20,
re-enacted in 1 Elizabeth c. 1 (Act of Supremacy 1558). On a vacancy
occurring, the dean and chapter notify the king thereof in chancery, and
pray leave to make election. A licence under the Great Seal to proceed
to the election of a bishop, known as the _congé d'eslire_, together
with a letter missive containing the name of the king's nominee, is
thereupon sent to the dean and chapter, who are bound under the
penalties of _Praemunire_ to proceed within twelve days to the election
of the person named in it. In the event of their refusing obedience or
neglecting to elect, the bishop may be appointed by letters patent under
the Great Seal without the form of election. Upon the election being
reported to the crown, a mandate issues from the crown to the archbishop
and metropolitan, requesting him and commanding him to confirm the
election, and to invest and consecrate the bishop-elect. Thereupon the
archbishop issues a commission to his vicar-general to examine formally
the process of the election of the bishop, and to supply by his
authority all defects in matters of form, and to administer to the
bishop-elect the oaths of allegiance, of supremacy and of canonical
obedience (see CONFIRMATION OF BISHOPS). In the disestablished and
daughter Churches the election is by the synod of the Church, as in
Ireland, or by a diocesan convention, as in the United States of
America.

In the Church of England the _potestas ordinis_ is conferred by
consecration. This is usually carried out by an archbishop, who is
assisted by two or more bishops. The essential "form" of the
consecration is in the simultaneous "laying on of hands" by the
consecrating prelates. After this the new bishop, who has so far been
vested only in a rochet, retires and puts on the rest of the episcopal
habit, viz. the chimere. After consecration the bishop is competent to
exercise all the spiritual functions of his office; but a bishopric in
the Established Church, being a barony, is under the guardianship of the
crown during a vacancy, and has to be conferred afresh on each new
holder. A bishop, then, cannot enter into the enjoyment of the
temporalities of his see, including his rights of presentation to
benefices, before doing homage to the king. This is done in the ancient
feudal form, surviving elsewhere only in the conferring of the M.A.
degree at Cambridge. The bishop kneels before the king, places his hands
between his, and recites an oath of temporal allegiance; he then kisses
hands.

Besides the functions exercised in virtue of their order, bishops are
also empowered by law to exercise a certain jurisdiction over all
consecrated places and over all ordained persons. This jurisdiction they
exercise for the most part through their consistorial courts, or through
commissioners appointed under the Church Discipline Act of 1840. By the
Clergy Discipline Act of 1892 it was decreed that the trial of clerks
accused of unfitness to exercise the cure of souls should be before the
consistory court with five assessors. Under the Public Worship
Regulation Act of 1874, which gave to churchwardens and aggrieved
parishioners the right to institute proceedings against the clergy for
breaches of the law in the conduct of divine service, a discretionary
right was reserved to the bishop to stay proceedings.

The bishops also exercise a certain jurisdiction over marriages,
inasmuch as they have by the canons of the Church of England a power of
dispensing with the proclamation of banns before marriage. These
dispensations are termed marriage licences, and their legal validity is
recognised by the Marriage Act of 1823. The bishops had formerly
jurisdiction over all questions touching the validity of marriages and
the status of married persons, but this jurisdiction has been
transferred from the consistorial courts of the bishops to a court of
the crown by the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857. They have in a similar
manner been relieved of their jurisdiction in testamentary matters, and
in matters of defamation and of brawling in churches; and the only
jurisdiction which they continue to exercise over the general laity is
with regard to their use of the churches and churchyards. The
churchwardens, who are representative officers of the parishes, are also
executive officers of the bishops in all matters touching the decency
and order of the churches and of the churchyards, and they are
responsible to the bishops for the due discharge of their duties; but
the abolition of church rates has relieved the churchwardens of the most
onerous part of their duties, which was connected with the stewardship
of the church funds of their parishes.

The bishops are still authorized by law to dedicate and set apart
buildings for the solemnization of divine service, and grounds for the
performance of burials, according to the rites and ceremonies of the
Church of England; and such buildings and grounds, after they have been
duly consecrated according to law, cannot be diverted to any secular
purpose except under the authority of an act of parliament.

The bishops of England have also jurisdiction to examine clerks who may
be presented to benefices within their respective dioceses, and they are
bound in each case by the 95th canon of 1604 to inquire and inform
themselves of the sufficiency of each clerk within twenty-eight days,
after which time, if they have not rejected him as insufficiently
qualified, they are bound to institute him, or to license him, as the
case may be, to the benefice, and thereupon to send their mandate to the
archdeacon to induct him into the temporalities of the benefice. Where
the bishop himself is patron of a benefice within his own diocese he is
empowered to collate a clerk to it,--in other words, to confer it on the
clerk without the latter being presented to him. Where the clerk himself
is patron of the living, the bishop may institute him on his own
petition. (See BENEFICE.)

As spiritual peers, bishops of the Church of England have (subject to
the limitations stated below) seats in the House of Lords, though
whether as barons or in their spiritual character has been a matter of
dispute. The latter, however, would seem to be the case, since a bishop
was entitled to his writ of summons after confirmation and before doing
homage for his barony. Doubts having been raised whether a bishop of the
Church of England, being a lord of parliament, could resign his seat in
the Upper House, although several precedents to that effect are on
record, a statute of the realm, which was confined to the case of the
bishops of London and Durham, was passed in 1856, declaring that on the
resignation of their sees being accepted by their respective
metropolitans, those bishops should cease to sit as lords of parliament,
and their sees should be filled up in the manner provided by law in the
case of the avoidance of a bishopric. In 1869 the Bishops' Resignation
Act was passed. It provided that, on any bishop desiring to retire on
account of age or incapacity, the sovereign should be empowered to
declare the see void by an order in council, the retiring bishop of
archbishop to be secured the use of the episcopal residence for life and
a pension of one-third of the revenues of the see, or £2000, whichever
sum should prove the larger. Other sections defined the proceedings for
proving, in case of need, the incapacity of a bishop, provided for the
appointment of coadjutors and defined their status (Phillimore i. 82).

In view of the necessity for increasing the episcopate in the 19th
century and the objection to the consequent increase of the spiritual
peers in the Upper House, it was finally enacted by the Bishoprics Act
of 1878 that only the archbishops and the bishops of London, Winchester
and Durham should be always entitled to writs summoning them to the
House of Lords. The rest of the twenty-five seats are filled up, as a
vacancy occurs, according to seniority of consecration.

Bishops of the Church of England rank in order of precedency immediately
above barons. They may marry, but their wives as such enjoy no title or
precedence. Bishops are addressed as "Right Reverend" and have legally
the style of "Lord," which, as in the case of Roman Catholic bishops in
England, is extended to all, whether suffragans or holders of colonial
bishoprics, by courtesy.

The insignia of the Anglican bishop are the rochet and the chimere, and
the episcopal throne on the gospel side of the chancel of the cathedral
church. The use of the mitre, pastoral staff and pectoral cross, which
had fallen into complete disuse by the end of the 18th century, has been
now very commonly, though not universally, revived; and, in some cases,
the interpretation put upon the "Ornaments rubric" by the modern High
Church school has led to a more complete revival of the pre-Reformation
vestments.


  Orthodox Eastern.

In the Orthodox Church of the East and the various communions springing
from it, the _potestas ordinis_ of the bishop is the same as in the
Western Church. Among his qualifications the most peculiar is that he
must be unmarried, which, since the secular priests are compelled to
marry, entails his belonging to the "black clergy" or monks. The
insignia of an oriental bishop, with considerable variation in form, are
essentially the same as those of the Catholic West.


  Subordinate bishops.

Besides bishops presiding over definite sees, there have been from time
immemorial in the Christian Church bishops holding their jurisdiction in
subordination to the bishop of the diocese. (1) The oldest of these were
the _chorepiscopi_ ([Greek: taes choras episkopoi]), i.e. country
bishops, who were delegated by the bishops of the cities in the early
church to exercise jurisdiction in the remote towns and villages as
these were converted from paganism. Their functions varied in different
times and places, and by some it has been held that they were originally
only presbyters. In any case, this class of bishops, which had been
greatly curtailed in the East in A.D. 343 by the council of Laodicea,
was practically extinct everywhere by the 10th century. It survived
longest in Ireland, where in 1152 a synod, presided over by the papal
legate, decreed that, after the death of the existing holders of the
office, no more should be consecrated. Their place was taken by
arch-presbyters and rural deans. (2) The _Episcopi regionarii_, or
_gentium_, were simply missionary bishops without definite sees. Such
were, at the outset, Boniface, the apostle of Germany, and Willibrord,
the apostle of the Frisians. (3) Bishops _in partibus infidelium_ were
originally those who had been expelled from their sees by the pagans,
and, while retaining their titles, were appointed to assist diocesan
bishops in their work. In later times the custom arose of consecrating
bishops for this purpose, or merely as an honorary distinction, with a
title derived from some place once included within, but now beyond the
bounds of Christendom. (4) _Coadjutor bishops_ are such as are appointed
to assist the bishop of the diocese when incapacitated by infirmity or
by other causes from fulfilling his functions alone. Coadjutors in the
early church were appointed with a view to their succeeding to the see;
but this, though common in practice, is no longer the rule. In the
Church of England the appointment and rights of coadjutor bishops were
regulated by the Bishops' Resignation Act of 1869. Under this act the
coadjutor bishop has the right of succession to the see, or in the case
of the archiepiscopal sees and those of London, Winchester and Durham,
to the see vacated by the bishop, translated from another diocese to
fill the vacancy. (5) _Suffragan bishops_ (_episcopi sufraganei_ or
_auxiliares_) are those appointed to assist diocesan bishops in their
pontifical functions when hindered by infirmity, public affairs or other
causes. In the Roman Church the appointment of the suffragan rests with
the pope, on the petition of the bishop, who must prove that such is the
custom of the see, name a suitable priest and guarantee his maintenance.
The suffragan is given a title _in partibus_, but never that of
archbishop, and the same title is never given to two suffragans in
succession. In the Church of England the status of suffragan bishops was
regulated by the Act 26 Henry VIII. c. 14. Under this statute, which,
after long remaining inoperative, was amended and again put into force
by the Suffragans' Nomination Act of 1888, every archbishop and bishop,
being disposed to have a suffragan to assist him, may name two honest
and discreet spiritual persons for the crown to give to one of them the
title, name, style and dignity of a bishop of any one of twenty-six sees
enumerated in the statute, as the crown may think convenient. The crown,
having made choice of one of such persons, is empowered to present him
by letters patent under the great seal to the metropolitan, requiring
him to consecrate him to the same name, title, style and dignity of a
bishop; and the person so consecrated is thereupon entitled to exercise,
under a commission from the bishop who has nominated him, such authority
and jurisdiction, within the diocese of such bishop, as shall be given
to him by the commission, and no other.


  Lutheran churches.

The title of bishop survived the Reformation in certain of the Lutheran
churches of the continent, in Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and
Transylvania; it was temporarily restored in Prussia in 1701, for the
coronation of King Frederick I., again between 1816 and 1840 by
Frederick William III., and in Nassau in 1818. In these latter cases,
however, the title bishop is equivalent to that of "superintendent," the
form most generally employed. The Lutheran bishops, as a rule, do not
possess or claim unbroken "apostolic succession"; those of Finland and
Sweden are, however, an exception. The Lutheran bishops of Transylvania
sit, with the Roman and Orthodox bishops, in the Hungarian Upper House.
In some cases the secularization of episcopal principalities at the
Reformation led to the survival of the title of bishop as a purely
secular distinction. Thus the see of Osnabrück (Osnaburgh) was occupied,
from the peace of Westphalia to 1802, alternately by a Catholic and a
Protestant prince. From 1762 to 1802 it was held by Frederick, duke of
York, the last prince-bishop. Similarly, the bishopric of Schwerin
survived as a Protestant prince-bishopric until 1648, when it was
finally secularized and annexed to Mecklenburg, and the see of Lübeck
was held by Protestant "bishops" from 1530 till its annexation to
Oldenburg in 1803.[1]

In other Protestant communities, e.g. the Moravians, the Methodist
Episcopal Church and the Mormons, the office and title of bishop have
survived, or been created. Their functions and status will be found
described in the accounts of the several churches.

  See Wetzer and Welte, _Kirchenlexikon_, s. "Bischof" and "Weihen";
  Hinschius, _Kirchenrecht_, vol. ii.; Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopadie_,
  s. "Bischof" (the author rather arbitrarily classes Anglican with
  Lutheran bishops as not bishops in any proper sense at all);
  Phillimore's _Ecclesiastical Law_; the articles ORDER, HOLY;
  VESTMENTS; ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION; EPISCOPACY.     (W. A. P.)


FOOTNOTE:

  [1] The title prince-bishop, attached in Austria to the sees of
    Laibach, Seckau, Gurk, Brixen, Trent and Lavant, and in Prussia to
    that of Breslau, no longer implies any secular jurisdiction, but is
    merely a title of honour recognized by the state, owing either to the
    importance of the sees or for reasons purely historical.




BISHOP AUCKLAND, a market town in the Bishop Auckland parliamentary
division of Durham, England, 11 m. S.S.W. of the city of Durham, the
junction of several branches of the North Eastern railway. Pop. of urban
district (1901) 11,969. It is beautifully situated on an eminence near
the confluence of the Wear and the Gaunless. The parish church is 1 m.
distant, at Auckland St Andrews, a fine cruciform structure, formerly
collegiate, in style mainly Early English, but with earlier portions.
The palace of the bishops of Durham, which stands at the north-east end
of the town, is a spacious and splendid, though irregular pile The site
of the palace was first chosen by Bishop Anthony Beck, in the time of
Edward I. The present building covers about 5 acres, and is surrounded
by a park of 800 acres. On the Wear 1½ m. above Bishop Auckland there is
a small and very ancient church at Escomb, massively built and tapering
from the bottom upward. It is believed to date from the 7th century, and
some of the stones are evidently from a Roman building, one bearing an
inscription. These, no doubt, came from Binchester, a short distance up
stream, where remains of a Roman fort (_Vinovia_) are traceable. It
guarded the great Roman north road from York to Hadrian's wall. The
industrial population of Bishop Auckland is principally employed in the
neighbouring collieries and iron works.




BISHOP'S CASTLE, a market town and municipal borough in the southern
parliamentary division of Shropshire, England; the terminus of the
Bishop's Castle light railway from Craven Arms. Pop. (1901) 1378. It is
pleasantly situated in a hilly district to the east of Clun Forest,
climbing the flank and occupying the summit of an eminence. Of the
castle of the bishops of Hereford, which gave the town its name, there
are only the slightest fragments remaining. The town has some
agricultural trade. It is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12
councillors. Area, 1867 acres.

  Bishop's Castle was included in the manor of Lydbury, which belonged
  to the church of Hereford before the Conquest. The castle, at first
  called Lydbury Castle, was built by one of the bishops of Hereford
  between 1085 and 1154, to protect his manor from the Welsh, and the
  town which sprang up round the castle walls acquired the name of
  Bishop's Castle in the 13th century. In 1292 the bishop claimed to
  have a market every Friday, a fair on the eve, day and morrow of the
  Decollation of St John, and assize of bread and ale in Bishop's
  Castle, which his predecessors had held from time immemorial. Ten
  years later he received a grant from Richard II. of a market every
  Wednesday and a fair on the 2nd of November and two days following.
  Although the town was evidently a borough by the 13th century, since
  the burgesses are mentioned as early as 1292, it has no charter
  earlier than the incorporation charter granted by Queen Elizabeth in
  1572. This was confirmed by James I. in 1617 and by James II. in 1688.
  In 1584 Bishop's Castle returned two members to parliament, and was
  represented until 1832, when it was disfranchised.




BISHOP STORTFORD, a market town in the Hertford parliamentary division
of Hertfordshire, England; 30½ m. N.N.E. from London by the Cambridge
line of the Great Eastern railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 7143.
It lies on the river Stort, close to the county boundary with Essex, and
has water-communication with London through the Lea and Stort
Navigation. The church of St Michael, standing high above the valley, is
a fine embattled Perpendicular building with western tower and spire.
The high school, formerly the grammar school, was founded in the time of
Elizabeth. Here were educated Sir Henry Chauncy, an early historian of
Hertfordshire (d. 1719), and Cecil Rhodes, who was born at Bishop
Stortford in 1853. There are a Nonconformist grammar school, a diocesan
training college for mistresses, and other educational establishments.
The industries include brewing and malting, coach-building, lime-burning
and founding, and there are important horse and cattle markets.

  Before the Conquest the manor of Bishop Stortford is said to have
  belonged to Eddeva the Fair, wife of Harold, who sold it to the bishop
  of London, from whom it was taken by William the Conqueror. William
  restored it after a few years, and with it gave the bishop a small
  castle called Waytemore, of which there are scanty remains. The
  dungeon of this castle, called "Bishop's Hole" or "Bishop's Prison,"
  was used as an ecclesiastical prison until the 16th century. The town
  now possesses no early incorporation charters, and although both
  Chauncy and Salmon in their histories of Hertfordshire state that it
  was created a borough by charter of King John in 1206, the charter
  cannot now be found. The first mention of Bishop Stortford as a
  borough occurs in 1311, in which year the burgesses returned two
  members to parliament. The town was represented from that date until
  1332, and again in 1335-1336, but the privilege was then allowed to
  lapse and has never been revived.




BISKRA, a town of Algeria, in the arrondissement of Batna, department of
Constantine, 150 m. S.W. of the city of Constantine and connected with
it and with Philippeville by rail. It lies in the Sahara 360 ft. above
the sea, on the right bank of the Wad Biskra, a river which, often
nearly dry for many months in the year, becomes a mighty torrent after
one or two days' rain in winter. The name Biskra applies to a union of
five or six villages of the usual Saharan type, scattered through an
oasis 3 m. in length by less than 1 m. broad, and separated by huge
gardens full of palm and olive trees. The houses are built of hardened
mud, with doors and roof of palm wood. The foreign settlement is on the
north of the oasis; it consists of a broad main street, the rue Berthe
(from which a few side streets branch at right angles), lined with
European houses, the whole in the style of a typical French winter
resort, a beautiful public garden, with the church in the centre, an
arcade, a pretentious _mairie_ in pseudo-Moorish style with entrance
guarded by terra-cotta lions, some good shops, a number of excellent
hotels and cafes, a casino, clubs, and, near by, a street of dancing and
singing girls of the tribe of Walad-Nail. East of the public garden is
Fort St Germain, named after an officer killed in the insurrection of
the Zaatcha in 1849; it is capable of resisting any attack of the Arabs,
and extensive enough to shelter the whole of the civil population, who
took refuge therein during the rebellion of 1871. It contains barracks,
hospital and government offices. To the south-east lies the Villa Landon
with magnificent gardens filled with tropical plants. The population
(1906) of the chief settlement was 4218, of the whole oasis 10,413.

From November to April the climate of Biskra is delightful. Nowhere in
Algeria can be found more genial temperature or clearer skies, and while
in summer the thermometer often registers 110° F. in the shade, and 90°
at night, the pure dryness of the air in this practically rainless
region makes the heat endurable. The only drawback to the climat is the
prevalence of high cold winds in winter. These winds cause temperatures
as low as 36°, but the mean reading, on an average of ten years, is 73°.

In the oasis are some 200,000 fruit trees, of which about 150,000 are
date-palms, the rest being olives, pomegranates and apricots. In the
centre of the oasis is the old kasbah or citadel.

In 1844 the duc d'Aumale occupied this fort, and here, on the night of
the 12th of May of that year, the 68 men who formed the French garrison
were, with one exception, massacred by Arabs. In the fort are a few
fragments of Roman work--all that remains of the Roman post Ad Piscinam.

Biskra is the capital of the Ziban (plural of Zab), a race of mixed
Berber and Arab origin, whose villages extend from the southern slopes
of the Aures to the Shat Melrir. These villages, built in oases dotted
over the desert, nestle in groves of date-palms and fruit trees and
waving fields of barley. The most interesting village is that of Sidi
Okba, 12 m. south-east of Biskra. It is built of houses of one story
made of sun-dried bricks. The mosque is square, with a flat roof
supported on clay columns, and crowned by a minaret. In the north-west
corner of the mosque is the tomb of Sidi Okba, the leader of the Arabs
who in the 1st century of the Hegira conquered Africa for Islam from
Egypt to Tangier. Sidi Okba was killed by the Berbers near this place in
A.D. 682. On his tomb is the inscription in Cufic characters, "This is
the tomb of Okba, son of Nafi. May God have mercy upon him." No older
Arabic inscription is known to exist in Africa.




BISLEY, a village of Surrey, England, 3½ m. N.W. of Woking. The ranges
of the National Rifle Association were transferred from Wimbledon here
in 1890. (See RIFLE.)




BISMARCK, OTTO EDUARD LEOPOLD VON, PRINCE, duke of Lauenburg
(1815-1898), German statesman, was born on the 1st of April 1815, at the
manor-house of Schönhausen, his father's seat in the mark of
Brandenburg. The family has, since the 14th century, belonged to the
landed gentry, and many members had held high office in the kingdom of
Prussia. His father (d. 1845), of whom he always spoke with much
affection, was a quiet, unassuming man, who retired from the army in
early life with the rank of captain of cavalry (_Rittmeister_). His
mother, a daughter of Mencken, cabinet secretary to the king, was a
woman of strong character and ability, who had been brought up at Berlin
under the "Aufklärung." Her ambition was centred in her sons, but
Bismarck in his recollections of his childhood missed the influences of
maternal tenderness. There were several children of the marriage, which
took place in 1806, but all died in childhood except Bernhard
(1810-1893), Otto, and one sister, Malvina (b. 1827), who married in
1845 Oscar von Arnim. Young Bismarck was educated in Berlin, first at a
private school, then at the gymnasium of the Graue Kloster (Grey
Friars). At the age of seventeen he went to the university of Göttingen,
where he spent a little over a year; he joined the corps of the
Hannoverana and took a leading part in the social life of the students.
He completed his studies at Berlin, and in 1835 passed the examinations
which admitted him to the public service. He was intended for the
diplomatic service, but spent some months at Aix-la-Chapelle in
administrative work, and then was transferred to Potsdam and the
judicial side. He soon retired from the public service; he conceived a
great distaste for it, and had shown himself defective in discipline and
regularity. In 1839, after his mother's death, he undertook, with his
brother, the management of the family estates in Pomerania; at this time
most of the estate attached to Schönhausen had to be sold. In 1844,
after the marriage of his sister, he went to live with his father at
Schönhausen. He and his brother took an active part in local affairs,
and in 1846 he was appointed _Deichhauptmann_, an office in which he was
responsible for the care of the dykes by which the country, in the
neighbourhood of the Elbe, was preserved from inundation. During these
years he travelled in England, France and Switzerland. The influence of
his mother, and his own wide reading and critical character, made him at
one time inclined to hold liberal opinions on government and religion,
but he was strongly affected by the religious revival of the early years
of the reign of Frederick William IV.; his opinions underwent a great
change, and under the influence of the neighbouring country gentlemen he
acquired those strong principles in favour of monarchical government as
the expression of the Christian state, of which he was to become the
most celebrated exponent. His religious convictions were strengthened by
his marriage to Johanna von Puttkamer, which took place in 1847.


  Parliamentary career.

In the same year he entered public life, being chosen as substitute for
the representative of the lower nobility of his district in the
estates-general, which were in that year summoned to Berlin. He took his
seat with extreme right, and distinguished himself by the vigour and
originality with which he defended the rights of the king and the
Christian monarchy against the Liberals. When the revolution broke out
in the following year he offered to bring the peasants of Schönhausen to
Berlin in order to defend the king against the revolutionary party, and
in the last meeting of the estates voted in a minority of two against
the address thanking the king for granting a constitution. He did not
sit in any of the assemblies summoned during the revolutionary year, but
took a very active part in the formation of a union of the Conservative
party, and was one of the founders of the _Kreuzzeitung_, which has
since then been the organ of the Monarchical party in Prussia. In the
new parliament which was elected at the beginning of 1849, he sat for
Brandenburg, and was one of the most frequent and most incisive speakers
of what was called the Junker party. He took a prominent part in the
discussions on the new Prussian constitution, always defending the power
of the king. His speeches of this period show great debating skill,
combined with strong originality and imagination. His constant theme
was, that the party disputes were a struggle for power between the
forces of revolution, which derived their strength from the fighters on
the barricades, and the Christian monarchy, and that between these
opposed principles no compromise was possible. He took also a
considerable part in the debates on the foreign policy of the Prussian
government; he defended the government for not accepting the Frankfort
constitution, and opposed the policy of Radowitz, on the ground that the
Prussian king would be subjected to the control of a non-Prussian
parliament. The only thing, he said, that had come out of the
revolutionary year unharmed, and had saved Prussia from dissolution and
Germany from anarchy, was the Prussian army and the Prussian civil
service; and in the debates on foreign policy he opposed the numerous
plans for bringing about the union of Germany, by subjecting the crown
and Prussia to a common German parliament. He had a seat in the
parliament of Erfurt, but only went there in order to oppose the
constitution which the parliament had framed. He foresaw that the policy
of the government would lead it into a position when it would have to
fight against Austria on behalf of a constitution by which Prussia
itself would be dissolved, and he was, therefore, one of the few
prominent politicians who defended the complete change of front which
followed the surrender of Olmütz.


  Diplomatic career.

It was probably his speeches on German policy which induced the king to
appoint him Prussian representative at the restored diet of Frankfort in
1851. The appointment was a bold one, as he was entirely without
diplomatic experience, but he justified the confidence placed in him.
During the eight years he spent at Frankfort he acquired an unrivalled
knowledge of German politics. He was often used for important missions,
as in 1852, when he was sent to Vienna. He was entrusted with the
negotiations by which the duke of Augustenburg was persuaded to assent
to the arrangements by which he resigned his claims to Schleswig and
Holstein. The period he spent at Frankfort, however, was of most
importance because of the change it brought about in his own political
opinions. When he went to Frankfort he was still under the influence of
the extreme Prussian Conservatives, men like the Gerlachs, who regarded
the maintenance of the principle of the Christian monarchy against the
revolution as the chief duty of the Prussian government. He was prepared
on this ground for a close alliance with Austria. He found, however, a
deliberate intention on the part of Austria to humble Prussia, and to
degrade her from the position of an equal power, and also great jealousy
of Prussia among the smaller German princes, many of whom owed their
thrones to the Prussian soldiers, who, as in Saxony and Baden, had
crushed the insurgents. He therefore came to the conclusion that if
Prussia was to regain the position she had lost she must be prepared for
the opposition of Austria, and must strengthen herself by alliances with
other powers. The solidarity of Conservative interests appeared to him
now a dangerous fiction. At the time of the Crimean War he advocated
alliance with Russia, and it was to a great extent owing to his advice
that Prussia did not join the western powers. Afterwards he urged a good
understanding with Napoleon, but his advice was met by the insuperable
objection of King Frederick William IV. to any alliance with a ruler of
revolutionary origin.

The change of ministry which followed the establishment of a regency in
1857 made it desirable to appoint a new envoy at Frankfort, and in 1858
Bismarck was appointed ambassador at St Petersburg, where he remained
for four years. During this period he acquired some knowledge of
Russian, and gained the warm regard of the tsar, as well as of the
dowager-empress, herself a Prussian princess. During the first two years
he had little influence on the Prussian government; the Liberal
ministers distrusted his known opinions on parliamentary government, and
the monarchical feeling of the prince regent was offended by Bismarck's
avowed readiness for alliance with the Italians and his disregard of the
rights of other princes. The failure of the ministry, and the
estrangement between King William and the Liberal party, opened to him
the way to power. Roon, who was appointed minister of war in 1861, was
an old friend of his, and through him Bismarck was thenceforward kept
closely informed of the condition of affairs in Berlin. On several
occasions the prospect of entering the ministry was open to him, but
nothing came of it, apparently because he required a free hand in
foreign affairs, and this the king was not prepared to give him. When an
acute crisis arose out of the refusal of parliament, in 1862, to vote
the money required for the reorganization of the army, which the king
and Roon had carried through, he was summoned to Berlin; but the king
was still unable to make up his mind to appoint him, although he felt
that Bismarck was the only man who had the courage and capacity for
conducting the struggle with parliament. He was, therefore, in June,
made ambassador at Paris as a temporary expedient. There he had the
opportunity for renewing the good understanding with Napoleon which had
been begun in 1857. He also paid a short visit to England, but it does
not appear that this had any political results. In September the
parliament, by a large majority, threw out the budget, and the king,
having nowhere else to turn for help, at Roon's advice summoned Bismarck
to Berlin and appointed him minister president and foreign minister.


  Ministry.

Bismarck's duty as minister was to carry on the government against the
wishes of the lower house, so as to enable the king to complete and
maintain the reorganized army. The opposition of the House was supported
by the country and by a large party at court, including the queen and
crown prince. The indignation which his appointment caused was intense;
he was known only by the reputation which in his early years he had won
as a violent ultra-Conservative, and the apprehensions were increased by
his first speech, in which he said that the German question could not be
settled by speeches and parliamentary decrees, but only by blood and
iron. His early fall was predicted, and it was feared that he might
bring down the monarchy with him. Standing almost alone he succeeded in
the task he had undertaken. For four years he ruled without a budget,
taking advantage of an omission in the constitution which did not
specify what was to happen in case the crown and the two Houses could
not agree on a budget. The conflict of the ministers and the House
assumed at times the form of bitter personality hostility; in 1863 the
ministers refused any longer to attend the sittings, and Bismarck
challenged Virchow, one of his strongest opponents, to a duel, which,
however, did not take place. In 1852 he had fought a duel with pistols
against Georg von Vindre, a political opponent. In June 1863, as soon as
parliament had risen, Bismarck published ordinances controlling the
liberty of the press, which, though in accordance with the letter,
seemed opposed to the intentions of the constitution, and it was on this
occasion that the crown prince, hitherto a silent opponent, publicly
dissociated himself from the policy of his father's ministers. Bismarck
depended for his position solely on the confidence of the king, and the
necessity for defending himself against the attempts to destroy this
confidence added greatly to the suspiciousness of his nature. He was,
however, really indispensable, for his resignation must be followed by a
Liberal ministry, parliamentary control over the army, and probably the
abdication of the king. Not only, therefore, was he secure in the
continuance of the king's support, but he had also the complete control
of foreign affairs. Thus he could afford to ignore the criticism of the
House, and the king was obliged to acquiesce in the policy of a minister
to whom he owed so much.


  Foreign policy.

He soon gave to the policy of the monarchy a resolution which had long
been wanting. When the emperor of Austria summoned a meeting of the
German princes at Frankfort to discuss a reform of the confederation,
Bismarck insisted that the king of Prussia must not attend. He remained
away, and his absence in itself made the congress unavailing. There can
be no doubt that from the time he entered on office Bismarck was
determined to bring to an issue the long struggle for supremacy in
Germany between the house of Habsburg and the house of Hohenzollern.
Before he was able to complete his preparations for this, two unforeseen
occurrences completely altered the European situation, and caused the
conflict to be postponed for three years. The first was the outbreak of
rebellion in Poland. Bismarck, an inheritor of the older Prussian
traditions, and recollecting how much of the greatness of Prussia had
been gained at the expense of the Poles, offered his help to the tsar.
By this he placed himself in opposition to the universal feeling of
western Europe; no act of his life added so much to the repulsion with
which at this time he was regarded as an enemy of liberty and right. He
won, however, the gratitude of the tsar and the support of Russia, which
in the next years was to be of vital service to him. Even more serious
were the difficulties arising in Denmark. On the death of King Frederick
VII. in 1863, Prince Frederick of Augustenburg came forward as claimant
to the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, which had hitherto been joined
to the crown of Denmark. He was strongly supported by the whole German
nation and by many of its princes. Bismarck, however, once more was
obliged to oppose the current of national feeling, which imperiously
demanded that the German duchies should be rescued from a foreign yoke.
Prussia was bound by the treaty of London of 1852, which guaranteed the
integrity of the Danish monarchy; to have disregarded this would have
been to bring about a coalition against Germany similar to that of 1851.
Moreover, he held that it would be of no advantage to Prussia to create
a new German state; if Denmark were to lose the duchies, he desired that
Prussia should acquire them, and to recognize the Augustenburg claims
would make this impossible. His resistance to the national desire made
him appear a traitor to his country. To check the agitation he turned
for help to Austria; and an alliance of the two powers, so lately at
variance, was formed. He then falsified all the predictions of the
opposition by going to war with Denmark, not, as they had required, in
support of Augustenburg, but on the ground that the king of Denmark had
violated his promise not to oppress his German subjects. Austria
continued to act with Prussia, and, after the defeat of the Danes, at
the peace of Vienna the sovereignty of the duchies was surrendered to
the two allies--the first step towards annexation by Prussia. There is
no part of Bismarck's diplomatic work which deserves such careful study
as these events. Watched as he was by countless enemies at home and
abroad, a single false step would have brought ruin and disgrace on
himself; the growing national excitement would have burst through all
restraint, and again, as fifteen years before, Germany divided and
unorganized would have had to capitulate to the orders of foreign powers
(see SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN QUESTION).


  War with Austria.

The peace of Vienna left him once more free to return to his older
policy. For the next eighteen months he was occupied in preparing for
war with Austria. For this war the was alone responsible; he undertook
it deliberately as the only means of securing Prussian ascendancy in
Germany. The actual cause of dispute was the disposition of the
conquered duchies, for Austria now wished to put Augustenburg in as
duke, a plan to which Bismarck would not assent. In 1865 a provisional
arrangement was made by the treaty of Gastein, for Bismarck was not yet
ready. He would not risk a war unless he was certain of success, and for
this he required the alliance of Italy and French support; both he
secured during the next year. In October 1865 he visited Napoleon at
Biarritz and Paris. No formal treaty was made, but Napoleon promised to
regard favourably an extension of Prussian power in Germany; while
Bismarck led the emperor to believe that Prussia would help him in
extending the frontier of France. A treaty of alliance with Italy was
arranged in the spring of 1866; and Bismarck then with much difficulty
overcame the reluctance of the king to embark in a war with his old
ally. The results of the war entirely justified his calculations.
Prussia, though opposed by all the German states except a few
principalities in the north, completely defeated all her enemies, and at
the end of a few weeks the whole of Germany lay at her feet.


  Settlement of 1866.

The war of 1866 is more than that of 1870 the crisis of modern German
history. It finally settled the controversy which had begun more than a
hundred years before, and left Prussia the dominant power in Germany. It
determined that the unity of Germany should be brought about not by
revolutionary means as in 1848, not as in 1849 had been attempted by
voluntary agreement of the princes, not by Austria, but by the sword of
Prussia. This was the great work of Bismarck's life; he had completed
the programme foreshadowed in his early speeches, and finished the work
of Frederick the Great. It is also the turning-point in Bismarck's own
life. Having secured the dominance of the crown in Prussia and of
Prussia in Germany, he could afford to make a reconciliation with the
parties which had been his chief opponents, and turn to them for help in
building up a new Germany. The settlement of 1866 was peculiarly his
work. We must notice, first, how in arranging the terms of peace he
opposed the king and the military party who wished to advance on Vienna
and annex part of Austrian Silesia; with greater foresight he looked to
renewing the old friendship with Austria, and insisted (even with the
threat of resignation) that no territory should be demanded. The
southern states he treated with equal moderation, and thereby was able
to arrange an offensive and defensive alliance with them. On the other
hand, in order to secure the complete control of North Germany, which
was his immediate object, he required that the whole of Hanover,
Hesse-Cassel, Hesse-Nassau and the city of Frankfort, as well as the
Elbe duchies, should be absorbed in Prussia. He then formed a separate
confederation of the North German states, but did not attempt to unite
the whole of Germany, partly because of the internal difficulties which
this would have produced, partly because it would have brought about a
war with France. In the new confederation he became sole responsible
minister, with the title _Bundes-Kanzler_; this position he held till
1890, in addition to his former post of premier minister. In 1871 the
title was altered to _Reichs-Kanzler_.

The reconciliation with the Prussian parliament he effected by bringing
in a bill of indemnity for the money which had been spent without leave
of parliament. The Radicals still continued their opposition, but he
thereby made possible the formation of a large party of moderate
Liberals, who thenceforward supported him in his new Nationalist policy.
He aslo, in the constitution for the new confederation, introduced a
parliament (_Bundestag_) elected by universal suffrage. This was the
chief demand of the revolutionists in 1848; it was one to which in his
early life he had been strongly opposed. His experience at Frankfort had
diminished his dislike of popular representation, and it was probably to
the advice of Lassalle that his adoption of universal suffrage was due.
He first publicly proposed it just before the war; by carrying it out,
notwithstanding the apprehensions of many Liberal politicians, he placed
the new constitution on a firmer base than would otherwise have been
possible.

Up to 1866 he had always appeared to be an opponent of the National
party in Germany, now he became their leader. His next task was to
complete the work which was half-finished, and it was this which brought
about the second of the great wars which he undertook.


  Bismarck and France.

The relations with Napoleon III. form one of the most interesting but
obscurest episodes in Bismarck's career. We have seen that he did not
share the common prejudice against co-operation with France. He found
Napoleon willing to aid Prussia as he had aided Piedmont, and was ready
to accept his assistance. There was this difference, that he asked only
for neutrality, not armed assistance, and it is improbable that he ever
intended to alienate any German territory; he showed himself, however,
on more than one occasion, ready to discuss plans for extending French
territory, on the side of Belgium and Switzerland. Napoleon, who had not
anticipated the rapid success of Prussia, after the battle of Königgratz
at the request of Austria came forward as mediator, and there were a few
days during which it was probable that Prussia would have to meet a
French attempt to dictate terms of peace. Bismarck in this crisis by
deferring to the emperor in appearance avoided the danger, but he knew
that he had been deceived, and the cordial understanding was never
renewed. Immediately after an armistice had been arranged, Benedetti, at
the orders of the French government, demanded as recompense a large
tract of German territory on the left bank of the Rhine. This Bismarck
peremptorily refused, declaring that he would rather have war. Benedetti
then made another proposal, submitting a draft treaty by which France
was to support Prussia in adding the South German states to the new
confederation, and Germany was to support France in the annexation of
Luxemburg and Belgium. Bismarck discussed, but did not conclude the
treaty; he kept, however, a copy of the draft in Benedetti's
handwriting, and published it in _The Times_ in the summer of 1870 so as
to injure the credit of Napoleon in England. The failure of the scheme
made a contest with France inevitable, at least unless the Germans were
willing to forgo the purpose of completing the work of German unity, and
during the next four years the two nations were each preparing for the
struggle, and each watching to take the other at a disadvantage.


  The Ems telegram.

It is necessary, then, to keep in mind the general situation in
considering Bismarck's conduct in the months immediately preceding the
war of 1870. In 1867 there was a dispute regarding the right to garrison
Luxemburg. Bismarck then produced the secret treaties with the southern
states, an act which was, as it were, a challenge to France by the whole
of Germany. During the next three years the Ultramontane party hoped to
bring about an anti-Prussian revolution, and Napoleon was working for an
alliance with Austria, where Beust, an old opponent of Bismarck's, was
chancellor. Bismarck was doubtless well informed as to the progress of
the negotiations, for he had established intimate relations with the
Hungarians. The pressure at home for completing the work of German unity
was so strong that he could with difficulty resist it, and in 1870 he
was much embarrassed by a request from Baden to be admitted to the
confederation, which he had to refuse. It is therefore not surprising
that he eagerly welcomed the opportunity of gaining the goodwill of
Spain, and supported by all the means in his power the offer made by
Marshal Prim that Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern should be chosen king
of that country. It was only by his urgent and repeated representations
that the prince was persuaded against his will to accept. The
negotiations were carried out with the greatest secrecy, but as soon as
the acceptance was made known the French government intervened and
declared that the project was inadmissable. Bismarck was away at Varzin,
but on his instructions the Prussian foreign office in answer to
inquiries denied all knowledge or responsibility. This was necessary,
because it would have caused a bad impression in Germany had he gone to
war with France in support of the prince's candidature. The king, by
receiving Benedetti at Ems, departed from the policy of reserve Bismarck
himself adopted, and Bismarck (who had now gone to Berlin) found himself
in a position of such difficulty that he contemplated resignation. The
French however, by changing and extending their demands enabled him to
find a cause of war of such nature that the whole of Germany would be
united against French agression. France asked for a letter of apology,
and Benedetti personally requested from the king a promise that he would
never allow the candidature to be resumed. Bismarck published the
telegram in which this information and the refusal of the king were
conveyed, but by omitting part of the telegram made it appear that the
request and refusal had both been conveyed in a more abrupt form than
had really been the case.[1] But even apart from this, the publication
of the French demand, which could not be complied with, must have
brought about a war.

In the campaign of 1870-71 Bismarck accompanied the headquarters of the
army, as he had done in 1866. He was present at the battle of Gravelotte
and at the surrender of Sedan, and it was on the morning of the 2nd of
September that he had his famous meeting with Napoleon after the
surrender of the emperor. He accompanied the king to Paris, and spent
many months at Versailles. Here he was occupied chiefly with the
arrangments for admitting the southern states to the confederation, and
the establishment of the empire. He also underwent much anxiety lest the
efforts of Thiers to bring about an interference by the neutral powers
might be successful. He had to carry on the negotiations with the French
preliminary to the surrender of Paris, and to enforce upon them the
German terms of peace.


  After 1870.

For Bismarck's political career after 1870 we must refer to the article
GERMANY, for he was thenceforward entirely absorbed in the affairs of
his country. The foreign policy he controlled absolutely. As chancellor
he was responsible for the whole internal policy of the empire, and his
influence is to be seen in every department of state, especially,
however, in the great change of policy after 1878. During the earlier
period the estrangement from the Conservatives, which had begun in 1866,
became very marked, and brought about a violent quarrel with many of his
old friends, which culminated in the celebrated Arnim trial. He incurred
much criticism during the struggle with the Roman Catholic Church, and
in 1873 he was shot at and slightly wounded by a youth called Rullmann,
who professed to be an adherent of the Clerical party. Once before, in
1866, just before the outbreak of war, his life had been attempted by a
young man called Cohen, a native of Württemberg, who wished to save
Germany from a fratricidal war. In 1872 he retired from the presidency
of the Prussian ministry, but returned after a few months. On several
occasions he offered to retire, but the emperor always refused his
consent, on the last time with the word "Never." In 1877 he took a long
leave of absence for ten months. His health at this time was very bad.
In 1878 he presided over the congress of Berlin. The following years
were chiefly occupied, besides foreign affairs, which were always his
first care, with important commercial reforms, and he held at this time
also the office of Prussian minister of trade in addition to his other
posts. During this period his relations with the Reichstag were often
very unsatisfactory, and at no time did he resort so freely to
prosecutions in the law-courts in order to injure his opponents, so that
the expression _Bismarck-Beleidigung_ was invented. He was engaged at
this time in a great struggle with the Social-Democrats, whom he tried
to crush by exceptional penal laws. The death of the emperor William in
1888 made a serious difference in his position. He had been bound to him
by a long term of loyal service, which had been rewarded with equal
loyalty. For his relations to the emperors Frederick and William II.,
and for the events connected with his dismissal from office in March
1890, we must refer to the articles under those names.

After his retirement he resided at Friedrichsruh, near Hamburg, a house
on his Leuenburg estates. His criticisms of the government, given
sometimes in conversation, sometimes in the columns of the _Hamburger
Nachrichten_, caused an open breach between him and the emperor; and the
new chancellor, Count Caprivi, in a circular despatch which was
afterwards published, warned all German envoys that no real importance
must be attached to what he said. When he visited Vienna for his son's
wedding the German ambassador, Prince Reuss, was forbidden to take any
notice of him. A reconciliation was effected in 1893. In 1895 his
eightieth birthday was celebrated with great enthusiasm: the Reichstag
alone, owing to the opposition of the Clericals and the Socialists,
refused to vote an address. In 1891 he had been elected a member of the
Reichstag, but he never took his seat. He died at Friedrichsruh on the
31st of July 1898.

Bismarck was made a count in 1865; in 1871 he received the rank of Fürst
(prince). On his retirement the emperor created him duke of Lauenburg,
but he never used the title, which was not inherited by his son. In 1866
he received £60,000 as his share of the donation voted by the Reichstag
for the victorious generals. With this he purchased the estate of Varzin
in Pomerania, which henceforth he used as a country residence in
preference to Schönhausen. In 1871 the emperor presented him with a
large part of the domains of the duchy of Lauenburg. On his seventieth
birthday a large sum of money (£270,000) was raised by public
subscription, of which half was devoted to repurchasing the estate of
Schönhausen for him, and the rest was used by him to establish a fund
for the assistance of schoolmasters. As a young man he was an officer in
the Landwehr and militia, and in addition to his civil honours he was
eventually raised to the rank of general. Among the numerous orders he
received we may mention that he was the first Protestant on whom the
pope bestowed the order of Christ; this was done after the cessation of
the Kulturkampf and the reference of the dispute with Spain concerning
the Caroline Islands to the arbitration of the pope.

Bismarck's wife died in 1894. He left one daughter and two sons. Herbert
(1840-1904), the elder, was wounded at Mars-le-Tour, afterwards entered
the foreign office, and acted as private secretary to his father
(1871-1881). In 1882 he became councillor to the embassy at London, in
1884 was transferred to St Petersburg, and in 1885 became
under-secretary of state for foreign affairs. In 1884 he had been
elected to the Reichstag, but had to resign his seat when, in 1886, he
was made secretary of state for foreign affairs and Prussian minister.
He conducted many of the negotiations with Great Britain on colonial
affairs. He retired in 1890 at the same time as his father, and in 1893
was again elected to the Reichstag. He married Countess Margarete Hoyos
in 1892, and died on the 18th of September 1904. He left two daughters
and three sons, of whom the eldest, Otto Christian Archibald (b. 1897),
succeeded to the princely title. The second son, Wilhelm, who was
president of the province of Prussia, died in 1901. By his wife, Sybilla
von Arnim-Kröchlendorff, he left three daughters and a son, Count
Nikolaus (b. 1896).

  AUTHORITIES.--The literature on Bismarck's life is very extensive, and
  it is only possible to enumerate a few of the most important books.
  The first place belongs to his own works. These include his own
  memoirs, published after his death, under the title _Gedanken und
  Erinnerungen_; there is an English translation, _Bismarck: his
  Reflections and Reminiscences_ (London, 1898). They are incomplete,
  but contain very valuable discussions on particular points. The
  speeches are of the greatest importance both for his character and for
  political history; of the numerous editions that by Horst Kehl, in 12
  vols. (Stuttgart, 1892-1894), is the best; there is a cheap edition in
  Reclam's _Universalbibliothek._ Bismarck was an admirable
  letter-writer, and numbers of his private letters have been published;
  a collected edition has been brought out by Horst Kohl. His letters to
  his wife were published by Prince Herbert Bismarck (Stuttgart, 1900).
  A translation of a small selection of the private letters was
  published in 1876 by F. Maxse. Of great value for the years 1851-1858
  is the corrspondence with General L. v. Gerlach, which has been edited
  by Horst Kohl (3rd ed., Berlin, 1893). A selection of the political
  letters was also published under the title _Politische Briefe aus den
  Jahren 1849-1899_ (2nd ed., Berlin, 1890). Of far greater importance
  are the collections of despatches and state papers edited by Herr v.
  Poschinger. These include four volumes entitled _Preussen im
  Bundestag, 1851-1859_ (4 vols., Leipzig, 1882-1885), which contain his
  despatches during the time he was at Frankfort. Next in importance are
  two works, _Bismarck als Volkswirth_ and _Aktenstucke zur
  Wirthschaftspolitik des Fursten Bismarck_, which are part of the
  collection of state papers, _Akenstucke zur Geschichte der
  Wirthschaftspolitik in Preussen._ They contain full information on
  Bismarck's commercial policy, including a number of important state
  papers. A useful general collection is that by Ludwig Hahn, _Bismarck,
  sein politisches Leben_, &c. (5 vols., Berlin, 1878-1891), which
  includes a selection from letters, speeches and newspaper articles.
  These collections have only been possible owing to the extreme
  generosity which Bismarck showed in permitting the publication of
  documents; he always professed to have no secrets. A full account of
  the diplomatic history from 1863 to 1866 is given by Sybel in _Die
  Begrundung des deutschen Reichs_ (Munich, 1889-1894), written with the
  help of the Prussian archives. The last two volumes, covering
  1866-1870, are of less value, as he was not able to use the archives
  for this period. Poschinger has also edited a series of works in which
  anecdotes, minutes of interviews and conversations are recorded; they
  are, however, of very unequal value. They are _Bismarck und die
  Parlamentarier, Furst Bismarck und der Bundesrath, Die Ansprache des
  Fursten Bismarck, Neue Tischgesprache_, and _Bismarck und die
  Diplomaten_. Selections from these have been published in English by
  Charles Lowe, _The Tabletalk of Prince Bismarck_, and by Sidney
  Whitman, _Conversations with Bismarck_. By far the fullest guide to
  Bismarck's life is Horst Kohl's _Furst Bismarck, Regesten zu einer
  wissenschaftlichen Biographie_ (Leipzig, 1891-1892), which contains a
  record of Bismarck's actions on each day, with references to and
  extracts from his letters and speeches. For the works of Moritz Busch,
  which contain graphic pictures of his daily life, see the article
  BUSCH. Further materials were published periodically in the
  _Bismarck-Jahrbuch_, edited by Horst Kohl (Berlin, 1894-1896;
  Stuttgart, 1897-1899). Herr v. Poschinger also brought out a _Bismarck
  Portfeuille_. Of German biographies may be mentioned Hans Blum,
  _Bismarck und seine Zeit_ (6 vols., Munich, 1894-1895), with a volume
  of appendices, &c. (1898); Heyck, _Bismarck_ (Bielefeld, 1898);
  Kreutzer, _Otto von Bismarck_ (2 vols., Leipzig, 1900);
  Klein-Hattingen, _Bismarck und seine Welt, 1815-1871_, Bd. i. (Berlin,
  1902); Lenz, _Geschichte Bismarcks_ (Leipzig, 1902); Penzler, _Furst
  Bismarck nach seiner Entlassung_ (7 vols., ib. 1897-1898); Liman, one
  volume under the same title (ib. 1901). There are English biographies
  by Charles Lowe, _Bismarck, a Political Biography_ (revised edition in
  1 vol., 1895), by James Headlam (1899), and by F. Stearns
  (Philadelphia, 1900). A useful bibliography of all works on Bismarck
  up to 1895 is Paul Schulze and Otto Koller's _Bismarck-Literatur_
  (Leipzig, 1896).     (J. W. He.)


FOOTNOTE:

  [1] It was not till many years later that our knowledge of these
    events (which is still incomplete) was established; in 1894 the
    publication of the memoirs of the king of Rumania showed, what had
    hitherto been denied, that Bismarck had taken a leading part in
    urging the election of the prince of Hohenzollern. It was in 1892
    that the language used by Bismarck himself made it necessary for the
    German government to publish the original form of the Ems telegram.




BISMARCK, the capital of North Dakota, U.S.A., and the county-seat of
Burleigh county, on the E. bank of the Missouri river, in the S. central
part of the state. Pop. (1890) 2186, (1900) 3319, of whom 746 were
foreign-born, (1905) 4913, (1910) 5443. It is on the main line of the
Northern Pacific, and on the Minneapolis, St Paul & Sault Ste Marie
railways; and steamboats run from here to Mannhaven, Mercer county, and
Fort Yates, Morton county. The city is about 1650 ft. above sea-level.
It contains the state capitol, the state penitentiary, a U.S. land
office, a U.S. surveyor-general's office, a U.S. Indian school and a
U.S. weather station; about a mile S. of the city is Fort Lincoln, a
United States army post. Bismarck is the headquarters for navigation of
the upper Missouri river, is situated in a good agricultural region, and
has a large wholesale trade, shipping grain, hides, furs, wool and coal.
It was founded in 1873, and was chartered as a city in 1876; from 1883
to 1889 it was the capital of Dakota Territory, on the division of which
it became the capital of North Dakota.




BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO, the collective name of a large number of islands
lying N. and N.E. of New Guinea, between 1° and 7° S., and 146° and 153°
E., belonging to Germany. The largest island is New Pomerania, and the
archipelago also includes New Mecklenburg, New Hanover, with small
attendant islands, the Admiralty Islands and a chain of islands off the
coast of New Guinea, the whole system lying in the form of a great
amphitheatre of oval shape. The archipelago was named in honour of the
first chancellor of the German empire, after a German protectorate had
been declared in 1884. (See ADMIRALTY ISLANDS, NEW MECKLENBURG, NEW
POMERANIA, NEW GUINEA.)




BISMILLAH, an Arabic exclamation, meaning "in the name of God."




BISMUTH, a metallic chemical element; symbol Bi, atomic weight 208.5 (O
= 16). It was probably unknown to the Greeks and Romans, but during the
middle ages it became quite familiar, notwithstanding its frequent
confusion with other metals. In 1450 Basil Valentine referred to it by
the name "wismut," and characterized it as a metal; some years later
Paracelsus termed it "wissmat," and, in allusion to its brittle nature,
affirmed it to be a "bastard" or "half-metal"; Georgius Agricola used
the form "wissmuth," latinized to "bisemutum," and also the term
"plumbum cineareum." Its elementary nature was imperfectly understood;
and the impure specimens obtained by the early chemists explain, in some
measure, its confusion with tin, lead, antimony, zinc and other metals;
in 1595 Andreas Libavius confused it with antimony, and in 1675 Nicolas
Lemery with zinc. These obscurities began to be finally cleared up with
the researches of Johann Heinrich Pott (1692-1777), a pupil of Stahl,
published in his _Exercitationes chemicae de Wismutho_ (1769), and of N.
Geoffroy, son of Claude Joseph Geoffroy, whose contribution to our
knowledge of this metal appeared in the _Mémoires de l'académie
française_ for 1753. Torbern Olof Bergman reinvestigated its properties
and determined its reactions; his account, which was published in his
_Opuscula_, contains the first fairly accurate description of the metal.

_Ores and Minerals._--The principal source of bismuth is the native
metal, which is occasionally met with as a mineral, usually in
reticulated and arborescent shapes or as foliated and granular masses
with a crystalline fracture. Although bismuth is readily obtained in
fine crystals by artificial means, yet natural crystals are rare and
usually indistinct; they belong to the rhombohedral system and a
cube-like rhombohedron with interfacial angles of 92° 20' is the
predominating form. There is a perfect cleavage perpendicular to the
trigonal axis of the crystals; the fact that only two (opposite) corners
of the cube-like crystals can be truncated by cleavage at once
distinguishes them from true cubes. When not tarnished, the mineral has
a silver-white colour with a tinge of red, and the lustre is metallic.
Hardness 2-2½; specific gravity 9.70-9.83. The slight variations in
specific gravity are due to the presence of small amounts of arsenic,
sulphur or tellurium, or to enclosed impurities.

Bismuth occurs in metalliferous veins traversing gneiss or clay-slate,
and is usually associated with ores of silver and cobalt. Well-known
localities are Schneeberg in Saxony and Joachimsthal in Bohemia; at the
former it has been found as arborescent groups penetrating brown jasper,
which material has occasionally been cut and polished for small
ornaments. The mineral has been found in some Cornish mines and is
fairly abundant in Bolivia (near Sorata, and at Tasna in Potosi). It is
the chief commercial source of bismuth.

The oxide, bismuth ochre, Bi2O3, and the sulphide, bismuth glance or
bismuthite, are also of commercial importance. The former is found,
generally mixed with iron, copper and arsenic oxides, in Bohemia,
Siberia, Cornwall, France (Meymac) and other localities; it also occurs
admixed with bismuth carbonate and hydrate. The hydrated carbonate,
bismutite, is of less importance; it occurs in Cornwall, Bolivia,
Arizona and elsewhere.

Of the rarer bismuth minerals we may notice the following:--the complex
sulphides, copper bismuth glance or wittichenite, BiCu3S3, silver
bismuth glance, bismuth cobalt pyrites, bismuth nickel pyrites or
saynite, needle ore (patrinite or aikinite), BiCuPbS3, emplectite,
CuBiS2, and kobellite, BiAsPb3S6; the sulphotelluride tetradymite; the
selenide guanajuatite, Bi2Se3, the basic tellurate montanite,
Bi2(OH)4TeOe; the silicates eulytite and agricolite, Bi4(SiO2)3; and the
urnayl arsenate walpurgite, Bi(UO2),(OH)24(A3O4)4.

  _Metallurgy._--Bismuth is extracted from its ores by dry, wet, or
  electro-matallurgical methods, the choice depending upon the
  composition of the ore and economic conditions. The dry process is
  more frequently practised, for the easy reducibility of the oxide and
  sulphide, together with the low melting-point of the metal, renders it
  possible to effect a ready separation of the metal from the gangue and
  impurities. The extraction from ores in which the bismuth is present
  in the metallic condition may be accomplished by a simple liquation,
  or melting, in which the temperature is just sufficient to melt the
  bismuth, or by a complete fusion of the ore. The first process never
  extracts all the bisbuth, as much as one-third being retained in the
  matte or speiss; the second is more satisfactory, since the extraction
  is more complete, and also allows the addition of reducing agents to
  decompose any admixed bismuth oxide or sulphide. In the liquidation
  process the ore is heated in inclined cylindrical retorts, and the
  molten metal is tapped at the lower end; the residues being removed
  from the upper end. The fusion process is preferably carried out in
  crucible furnaces; shaft furnaces are unsatisfactory on account of the
  disintegrating action of the molten bismuth on the furnace linings.

  Sulphuretted ores are smelted, either with or without a preliminary
  calcination, with metallic iron; calcined ores may be smelted with
  carbon (coal). The reactions are strictly analogous to those which
  occur in the smelting of galena (see LEAD), the carbon reducing any
  oxide, either present originally in the ore or produced in the
  calcination and the iron combining with the sulphur of the bismuthite.
  A certain amount of bismuth sulphate is always formed during the
  calcination; this is subsequently reduced to the sulphide and
  ultimately to the metal in the fusion. Calcination in reverberatory
  furnaces and a subsequent smelting in the same type of furnace with
  the addition of about 3% of coal, lime, soda and fluorspar, has been
  adopted for treating the Bolivian ores, which generally contain the
  sulphides of bismuth, copper, iron, antimony, lead and a little
  silver. The lowest layer of the molten mass is principally metallic
  bismuth, the succeeding layers are a bismuth copper matte, which is
  subsequently worked up, and a slag. Ores containing the oxide and
  carbonate are treated either by smelting with carbon or by a wet
  process.

  In the wet process the ores, in which the bismuth is present as oxide
  or carbonate, are dissolved out with hydrochloric acid, or, if the
  bismuth is to be extracted from a matte or alloy, the solvent employed
  is _aqua regia_ or strong sulphuric acid. The solution of metallic
  chlorides or sulphates so obtained is precipitated by iron, the
  metallic bismuth filtered, washed with water, pressed in canvas bags,
  and finally fused in graphite crucibles, the surface being protected
  by a layer of charcoal. Another process consists in adding water to
  the solution and so precipitating the bismuth as oxychloride, which is
  then converted into the metal.

  The crude metal obtained by the preceding processes is generally
  contaminated by arsenic, sulphur, iron, nickel, cobalt and antimony,
  and sometimes with silver or gold. A dry method of purification
  consists in a liquation on a hearth of peculiar construction, which
  occasions the separation of the unreduced bismuth sulphide and the
  bulk of the other impurities. A better process is to remelt the metal
  in crucibles with the addition of certain refining agents. The details
  of this process vary very considerably, being conditioned by the
  composition of the impure metal and the practice of particular works.
  The wet refining process is more tedious and expensive, and is only
  exceptionally employed, as in the case of preparing the pure metal or
  its salts for pharmaceutical or chemical purposes. The basic nitrate
  is the salt generally prepared, and, in general outline, the process
  consists in dissolving the metal in nitric acid, adding water to the
  solution, boiling the precipitated basic nitrate with an alkali to
  remove the arsenic and lead, dissolving the residue in nitric acid,
  and reprecipitating as basic nitrate with water. J.F.W. Hampe prepared
  chemically pure bismuth by fusing the metal with sodium carbonate and
  sulphur, dissolving the bismuth sulphide so formed in nitric acid,
  precipitating the bismuth as the basic nitrate, re-dissolving this
  salt in nitric acid, and then precipitating with ammonia. The bismuth
  hydroxide so obtained is finally reduced by hydrogen.

  _Properties._--Bismuth is a very brittle metal with a white
  crystalline fracture and a characteristic reddish-white colour. It
  crystallizes in rhombohedra belonging to the hexagonal system, having
  interfacial angles of 87° 40'. According to G.W.A. Kahlbaum, Roth and
  Siedler (_Ziet. Anorg. Chem. 29_, p. 294), its specific gravity is
  9.78143; Roberts and Wrightson give the specific gravity of solid
  bismuth as 9.82, and of molten bismuth as 10.035. It therefore expands
  on solidification; and as it retains this property in a number of
  alloys, the metal receives extensive application in forming
  type-metals. Its melting-point is variously given as 268.3° (F.
  Rudberg and A.D. von Riemsdijk) and 270.5° (C.C. Person); commercial
  bismuth melts at 260° (Ledebur), and electrolytic bismuth at 264°
  (Classen). It vaporizes in a vacuum at 292°, and its boiling-point,
  under atmospheric pressure, is between 1090° and 1450° (T. Carnelley
  and W.C. Williams). Regnault determined its specific heat between 0°
  and 100° to be 0.0308; Kahlbaum, Roth and Siedler (_loc. cit._) give
  the value 0.03055. Its thermal conductivity is the lowest of all
  metals, being 18 as compared with silver as 1000; its coefficient of
  expansion between 0° and 100° is 0.001341. Its electrical conductivity
  is approximately 1.2, silver at 0° being taken as 100; it is the most
  diamagnetic substance known, and its thermoelectric properties render
  it especially valuable for the construction of thermopiles.

  The metal oxidizes very slowly in dry air at ordinary temperatures,
  but somewhat more rapidly in moist air or when heated. In the last
  case it becomes coated with a greyish-black layer of an oxide (dioxide
  (?)), at a red heat the layer consists of the trioxide (Bi2O3); and is
  yellow or green in the case of pure bismuth, and violet or blue if
  impure; at a bright red heat it burns with a bluish flame to the
  trioxide. Bismuth combines directly with the halogens, and the
  elements of the sulphur group. It readily dissolves in nitric acid,
  _aqua regia_ and hot sulphuric acid, but tardily in hot hydrochloric
  acid. It is precipitated as the metal from solutions of its salts by
  the metals of the alkalis and alkaline earths, zinc, iron, copper, &c.
  In its chemical affinities it resembles arsenic and antimony; an
  important distinction is that it forms no hydrogen compound analogous
  to arsine and stibine.

  _Alloys_.--Bismuth readily forms alloys with other metals. Treated
  with sodammonium it yields a bluish-black mass, BiNa3, which takes
  fire in the air and decomposes water. A brittle potassium alloy of
  silver-white colour and lamellar fracture is obtained by calcining 20
  parts of bismuth with 16 of cream of tartar at a strong red heat. When
  present in other metals, even in very small quantity, bismuth renders
  them brittle and impairs their electrical conductivity. With mercury
  it forms amalgams. Bismuth is a component of many ternary alloys
  characterized by their low fusibility and expansion in solidification;
  many of them are used in the arts (see FUSIBLE METAL).

  _Compounds_.--Bismuth forms four oxides, of which the trioxide, Bi2O3,
  is the most important. This compound occurs in nature as bismuth
  ochre, and may be prepared artificially by oxidizing the metal at a
  red heat, or by heating the carbonate, nitrate or hydrate. Thus
  obtained it is a yellow powder, soluble in the mineral acids to form
  soluble salts, which are readily precipitated as basic salts when the
  solution is diluted. It melts to a reddish-brown liquid, which
  solidifies to a yellow crystalline mass on cooling. The Hydrate,
  Bi(OH)3, is obtained as a white powder by adding potash to a solution
  of a bismuth salt. Bismuth dioxide, BiO or Bi2O2, is said to be formed
  by the limited oxidation of the metal, and as a brown precipitate by
  adding mixed solutions of bismuth and stannous chlorides to a solution
  of caustic potash. Bismuth tetroxide, Bi2O4, sometimes termed bismuth
  bismuthate, is obtained by melting bismuth trioxide with potash, or by
  igniting bismuth trioxide with potash and potassium chlorate. It is
  also formed by oxidizing bismuth trioxide suspended in caustic potash
  with chlorine, the pentoxide being formed simultaneously; oxidation
  and potassium ferricyanide simply gives the tetroxide (Hauser and
  Vanino, _Zeit. Anorg. Chem_., 1904, 39, p. 381). The hydrate,
  Bi2O4·2H2O, is also known. Bismuth pentoxide, Bi2C5, is obtained by
  heating bismuthic acid, HBiO3, to 130°C.; this acid (in the form of
  its salts) being the product of the continued oxidation of an alkaline
  solution of bismuth trioxide.

  Bismuth forms two chlorides: BiCl2 and BiCl3. The dichloride, BiCl2,
  is obtained as a brown crystalline powder by fusing the metal with the
  trichloride, or in a current of chlorine, or by heating the metal with
  calomel to 250°. Water decomposes it to metallic bismuth and the
  oxychloride, BiOCl. Bismuth trichloride, BiCl3, was obtained by Robert
  Boyle by heating the metal with corrosive sublimate. It is the final
  product of burning bismuth in an excess of chlorine. It is a white
  substance, melting at 225°-230° and boiling at 435°-441°. With excess
  of water, it gives a white precipitate of the oxychloride, BiOCl.
  Bismuth trichloride forms double compounds with hydrochloric acid, the
  chlorides of the alkaline metals, ammonia, nitric oxide and nitrosyl
  chloride. _Bismuth trifluoride_, BiF3, a white powder, _bismuth
  tribromide_, BiBr3, golden yellow crystals, _bismuth iodide_, BiI3,
  greyish-black crystals, are also known. These compounds closely
  resemble the trichloride in their methods of preparation and their
  properties, forming oxyhaloids with water, and double compounds with
  ammonia, &c.

  _Carbonates_.--The basic carbonate, 2(BiO)2CO3·H2O, obtained as a
  white precipitate when an alkaline carbonate is added to a solution of
  bismuth nitrate, is employed in medicine. Another basic carbonate,
  3(BiO)2CO3·2Bi(OH)3·3H2O, constitutes the mineral bismutite.

  _Nitrates_.--The normal nitrate, Bi(NO3)3·5H2O, is obtained in large
  transparent asymmetric prisms by evaporating a solution of the metal
  in nitric acid. The action of water on this solution produces a
  crystalline precipitate of basic nitrate, probably Bi(OH)2NO3, though
  it varies with the amount of water employed. This precipitate
  constitutes the "magistery of bismuth" or "subnitrate of bismuth" of
  pharmacy, and under the name of pearl white, _blanc d'Espagne_ or
  _blanc de fard_ has long been used as a cosmetic.

  _Sulphides_.--Bismuth combines directly with sulphur to form a,
  disulphide, Bi2S2, and a trisulphide, Bi2S3, the latter compound being
  formed when the sulphur is in excess. A hydrated disulphide,
  Bi2S2·2H2O, is obtained by passing sulphuretted hydrogen into a
  solution of bismuth nitrate and stannous chloride. Bismuth disulphide
  is a grey metallic substance, which is decomposed by hydrochloric acid
  with the separation of metallic bismuth and the formation of bismuth
  trichloride. Bismuth trisulphide, Bi2S3, constitutes the mineral
  bismuthite, and may be prepared by direct union of its constituents,
  or as a brown precipitate by passing sulphuretted hydrogen into a
  solution of a bismuth salt. It is easily soluble in nitric acid. When
  heated to 200° it assumes the crystalline form of bismuthite. Bismuth
  forms several oxysulphides: Bi4O3S constitutes the mineral karelinite
  found at the Zavodinski mine in the Altai; Bi6O3S4 and Bi2O3S have
  been prepared artificially. Bismuth also forms the sulphohaloids,
  BiSCl, BiSBr, BiSI, analogous to the oyxhaloids.

  Bismuth sulphate, Bi2(SO4)3, is obtained as a white powder by
  dissolving the metal or sulphide in concentrated sulphuric acid. Water
  decomposes it, giving a basic salt, Bi2(SO4)(OH)4, which on heating
  gives (BiO)2SO4. Other basic salts are known.

  Bismuth forms compounds similar to the trisulphide with the elements
  selenium and tellurium. The tritelluride constitutes the mineral
  tetradymite, Bi2Te3.

  _Analysis_.--Traces of bismuth may be detected by treating the
  solution with excess of tartaric acid, potash and stannous chloride, a
  precipitate or dark coloration of bismuth oxide being formed even when
  only one part of bismuth is present in 20,000 of water. The blackish
  brown sulphide precipitated from bismuth salts by sulphuretted
  hydrogen is insoluble in ammonium sulphide, but is readily dissolved
  by nitric acid. The metal can be reduced by magnesium, zinc, cadmium,
  iron, tin, copper and substances like hypophosphorous acid from acid
  solutions or from alkaline ones by formaldehyde. In quantitative
  estimations it is generally weighed as oxide, after precipitation as
  sulphide or carbonate, or in the metallic form, reduced as above.

  _Pharmacology_.--The salts of bismuth are feebly antiseptic. Taken
  internally the subnitrate, coming into contact with water, tends to
  decompose, gradually liberating nitric acid, one of the most powerful
  antiseptics. The physical properties of the powder also give it a mild
  astringent action. There are no remote actions.

  _Therapeutics_.--The subnitrate of bismuth is invaluable in certain
  cases of dyspepsia, and still more notably so in diarrhoea. It owes
  its value to the decomposition described above, by means of which a
  powerful antiseptic action is safely and continuously exerted. There
  is hardly a safer drug. It may be given in drachm doses with impunity.
  It colours the faeces black owing to the formation of sulphide.




BISMUTHITE, a somewhat rare mineral, consisting of bismuth trisulphide,
Bi2S3. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and is isomorphous
with stibnite (Sb2S3), which it closely resembles in appearance. It
forms loose interlacing aggregates of acicular crystals without terminal
faces (only in a single instance has a terminated crystal been
observed), or as masses with a foliated or fibrous structure. An
important character is the perfect cleavage in one direction parallel to
the length of the needles. The colour is lead-grey inclining to
tin-white and often with a yellowish or iridescent tarnish. The hardness
is 2; specific gravity 6.4-6.5. Bismuthite occurs at several localities
in Cornwall and Bolivia, often in association with native bismuth and
tin-ores. Other localities are known; for instance, Brandy Gill in
Caldbeck Fells, Cumberland, where with molybdenite and apatite it is
embedded in white quartz. The mineral was known to A. Cronstedt in 1758,
and was named bismuthine by F.S. Beudant in 1832. This name, which is
also used in the forms bismuthite and bismuthinite, is rather
unfortunate, since it is readily confused with bismite (bismuth oxide)
and bismutite (basic bismuth carbonate), especially as the latter has
also been used in the form bismuthite. The name bismuth-glance or
bismutholamprite for the species under consideration is free from this
objection.     (L. J. S.)




BISMYA, a group of ruin mounds, about 1 m. long and ½ m. wide,
consisting of a number of low ridges, nowhere exceeding 40 ft. in
height, lying in the Jezireh, somewhat nearer to the Tigris than the
Euphrates, about a day's journey to the south-east of Nippur, a little
below 32° N. and about 45° 40' E. Excavations conducted here for six
months, from Christmas of 1903 to June 1904, for the university of
Chicago, by Dr Edgar J. Banks, proved that these mounds covered the site
of the ancient city of Adab (Ud-Nun), hitherto known only from a brief
mention of its name in the introduction to the Khammurabi code (c. 2250
B.C.). The city was divided into two parts by a canal, on an island in
which stood the temple, E-mach, with a _ziggurat_, or stage tower. It
was evidently once a city of considerable importance, but deserted at a
very early period, since the ruins found close to the surface of the
mounds belong to Dungi and Ur Gur, kings of Ur in the earlier part of
the third millennium B.C. Immediately below these, as at Nippur, were
found the remains of Naram-Sin and Sar-gon, c. 3000 B.C. Below these
there were still 35 ft. of stratified remains, constituting
seven-eighths of the total depth of the ruins. Besides the remains of
buildings, walls, graves, &c., Dr Banks discovered a large number of
inscribed clay tablets of a very early period, bronze and stone tablets,
bronze implements and the like. But the two most notable discoveries
were a complete statue in white marble, apparently the most ancient yet
found in Babylonia (now in the museum in Constantinople), bearing the
inscription--"E-mach, King Da-udu, King of Ud-Nun"; and a temple refuse
heap, consisting of great quantities of fragments of vases in marble,
alabaster, onyx, porphyry and granite, some of which were inscribed, and
others engraved and inlaid with ivory and precious stones.
     (J. P. Pe.)




BISON, the name of the one existing species of European wild ox, _Bos
(Bison) bonasus_, known in Russian as _zubr_. Together with the nearly
allied New World animal known in Europe as the (North) American bison,
but in its own country as "buffalo," and scientifically as _Bos (Bison)
bison_, the bison represents a group of the ox tribe distinguished from
other species by the greater breadth and convexity of the forehead,
superior length of limb, and the longer spinal processes of the dorsal
vertebrae, which, with the powerful muscles attached for the support of
the massive head, form a protuberance or hump on the shoulders. The
bisons have also fourteen pairs of ribs, while the common ox has only
thirteen. The forehead and neck of both species are covered with long,
shaggy hair of a dark brown colour; and in winter the whole of the neck,
shoulders and hump are similarly clothed, so as to form a curly, felted
mane. This mane in the European species disappears in summer; but in the
American bison it is to a considerable extent persistent.

The bison is now the largest European quadruped, measuring about 10 ft.
long, exclusive of the tail, and standing nearly 6 ft. high. Formerly it
was abundant throughout Europe, as is proved by the fossil remains of
this or a closely allied form found on the continent and in England,
associated with those of the extinct mammoth and rhinoceros. Caesar
mentions the bison as abounding, along with the extinct aurochs or wild
ox, in the forests of Germany and Belgium, where it appears to have been
occasionally captured and afterwards exhibited alive in the Roman
amphitheatres. At that period, and long after, it seems to have been
common throughout central Europe, as we learn from the evidence of
Herberstein in the 16th century. Nowadays bison are found in a truly
wild condition only in the forests of the Caucasus, where they are
specially protected by the Russian government. There is, however, a
herd, somewhat in the condition of park-animals, in the forest of
Byelovitsa, in Lithuania, where it is protected by the tsar, but
nevertheless is gradually dying out. In 1862 the Lithuanian bisons
numbered over 1200, but by 1872 they had diminished to 528, and in 1892
there were only 491. The prince of Pless has a small herd at Promnitz,
his Silesian estate, founded by the gift of a bull and three cows by
Alexander II. in 1855, his herd being the source of the menagerie
supply.

Bison feed on a coarse aromatic grass, and browse on the leaves, shoots,
bark and twigs of trees.

The American bison is distinguished from its European cousin by the
following among other features: The hind-quarters are weaker and fall
away more suddenly, while the withers are proportionately higher.
Especially characteristic is the great mass of brown or blackish brown
hair clothing the head, neck and forepart of the body. The shape of the
skull and horns is also different; the horns themselves being shorter,
thicker, blunter and more sharply curved, while the forehead of the
skull is more convex and the sockets of the eyes are more distinctly
tubular. This species formerly ranged over a third of North America in
countless numbers, but is now practically extinct. The great herd was
separated into a northern and southern division by the completion of
the Union Pacific railway, and the annual rate of destruction from 1870
to 1875 has been estimated at 2,500,000 head. In 1880 the completion of
the Northern Pacific railway led to an attack upon the northern herd.
The last of the Dakota bisons were destroyed by Indians in 1883, leaving
then less than 1000 wild individuals in the United State.

A count which was concluded at the end of February 1903, put the number
of captive bisons at 1119, of which 969 were in parks and zoological
gardens in the United States, 41 in Canada and 109 in Europe. At the
same time it was estimated that there were 34 wild bison in the United
States and 600 in Canada.

In England small herds are kept by the duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey,
Bedfordshire, and by Mr C.J. Leyland at Haggerston Castle,
Northumberland.

Two races of the American bison have been distinguished--the typical
prairie form, and the woodland race, _B. bison athabascae_; but the two
are very similar.     (R. L.*)




BISQUE (a French word of unknown origin, formerly spelt in English
"bisk"), a term for odds given in the games of tennis, lawn tennis,
croquet and golf; in the two former a bisque is one point to be taken at
any time during a "set" at the choice of the receiver of the odds, while
in croquet and golf it is one extra stroke to be taken similarly during
a game. The name is given, in cookery, to a thick soup, made
particularly of crayfish or lobsters.




BISSELL, GEORGE EDWIN (1839-   ), American sculptor, son of a quarryman
and marble-cutter, was born at New Preston, Connecticut, on the 16th of
February 1839. During the Civil War he served as a private in the 23rd
Connecticut volunteers in the Department of the Gulf (1862-1863), and on
being mustered out became acting assistant paymaster in the South
Atlantic squadron. At the close of the war he joined his father in
business. He studied the art of sculpture abroad in 1875-1876, and lived
much in Paris during the years 1883-1896, with occasional visits to
America. Among his more important works are the soldiers' and sailors'
monument, and a statue of Colonel Chatfield, at Waterbury, Connecticut;
and statues of General Gates at Saratoga, New York, of Chancellor John
Watts in Trinity churchyard, New York City; of Colonel Abraham de
Peyster in Bowling Green, New York City; of Abraham Lincoln at
Edinburgh; of Burns and "Highland Mary," in Ayr, Scotland; of Chancellor
James Kent, in the Congressional library, Washington; and of President
Arthur in Madison Square, New York City.




BISSEXT, or BISSEXTUS (Lat. _bis_, twice; _sextus_, sixth), the day
intercalated by the Julian calendar in the February of every fourth year
to make up the six hours by which the solar year was computed to exceed
the year of 365 days. The day was inserted after the 24th of February,
i.e. the 6th day before the calends (1st) of March; there was
consequently, besides the _sextus_, or sixth before the calends, the
_bis-sextus_ or "second sixth," our 25th of February. In modern usage,
with the exception of ecclesiastical calendars, the intercalary day is
added for convenience at the end of the month, and years in which
February has 29 days are called "bissextile," or leap-years.




BISTRE, the French name of a brown paint made from the soot of wood, now
largely superseded by Indian ink.




BIT (from the verb "to bite," either in the sense of a piece bitten off,
or an act of biting, or a thing that bites or is bitten), generally, a
piece of anything; the word is, however, used in various special senses,
all derivable from its origin, either literally or metaphorically. The
most common of these are (1) its use as the name of various tools, e.g.
centre-bit; (2) a horse's "bit," or the metal mouth-piece of the bridle;
(3) in money, a small sum of money of varying value (e.g.
threepenny-bit), especially in the West Indies and southern United
States.




BITHUR, a town in the Cawnpore district of the United Provinces of
India, 12 m. N.W. of Cawnpore city. Pop. (1901) 7173. It is chiefly
notable for its connexion with the mutiny of 1857. The last of the
peshwas, Baji Rao, was banished to Bithur, and his adopted son, the Nana
Sahib, made the town his head-quarters. It was captured by Havelock on
the 19th of July 1857, when the Nana's palaces were destroyed.




BITHYNIA ([Greek: Bituvia]), an ancient district in the N.W. of Asia
Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine.
According to Strabo it was bounded on the E. by the river Sangarius; but
the more commonly received division extended it to the Parthenius, which
separated it from Paphlagonia, thus comprising the district inhabited by
the Mariandyni. On the W. and S.W. it was separated from Mysia by the
river Rhyndacus; and on the S. it adjoined Phrygia Epictetus and
Galatia. It is in great part occupied by mountains and forests, but has
valleys and districts near the sea-coast of great fertility. The most
important mountain range is the (so-called) "Mysian" Olympus (7600 ft.),
which towers above Brusa and is clearly visible as far away as
Constantinople (70 m.). Its summits are covered with snow for a great
part of the year. East of this the range now called Ala-Dagh extends far
above 100 m. from the Sangarius to Paphlagonia. Both of these ranges
belong to that border of mountains which bounds the great tableland of
Asia Minor. The country between them and the coast, covered with forests
and traversed by few lines of route, is still imperfectly known. But the
broad tract which projects towards the west as far as the shores of the
Bosporus, though hilly and covered with forests--the Turkish Aghatch
Denizi, or "The Ocean of Trees"--is not traversed by any mountain chain.
The west coast is indented by two deep inlets, (1) the northernmost, the
Gulf of Ismid (anc. Gulf of Astacus), penetrating between 40 and 50 m.
into the interior as far as Ismid (anc. Nicomedia), separated by an
isthmus of only about 25 m. from the Black Sea; (2) the Gulf of Mudania
or Gemlik (Gulf of Cius), about 25 m. long. At its extremity is situated
the small town of Gemlik (anc. Cius) at the mouth of a valley,
communicating with the lake of Isnik, on which was situated Nicaea.

The principal rivers are the Sangarius (mod. Sakaria), which traverses
the province from south to north; the Rhyndacus, which separated it from
Mysia; and the Billaeus (Filiyas), which rises in the Ala-Dagh, about 50
m. from the sea, and after flowing by Boli (anc. Claudiopolis) falls
into the Euxine, close to the ruins of the ancient Tium, about 40 m.
north-east of Heraclea, having a course of more than 100 m. The
Parthenius (mod. Bartan), the boundary of the province towards the east,
is a much less considerable stream.

The natural resources of Bithynia are still imperfectly developed. Its
vast forests would furnish an almost inexhaustible supply of timber, if
rendered accessible by roads. Coal also is known to exist near Eregli
(Heraclea). The valleys towards the Black Sea abound in fruit trees of
all kinds, while the valley of the Sangarius and the plains near Brusa
and Isnik (Nicaea) are fertile and well cultivated. Extensive
plantations of mulberry trees supply the silk for which Brusa has long
been celebrated, and which is manufactured there on a large scale.

According to ancient authors (Herodotus, Xenophon, Strabo, &c.), the
Bithynians were an immigrant Thracian tribe. The existence of a tribe
called Thyni in Thrace is well attested, and the two cognate tribes of
the Thyni and Bithyni appear to have settled simultaneously in the
adjoining parts of Asia, where they expelled or subdued the Mysians,
Caucones, and other petty tribes, the Mariandyni alone maintaining
themselves in the north-east. Herodotus mentions the Thyni and Bithyni
as existing side by side; but ultimately the latter must have become the
more important, as they gave their name to the country. They were
incorporated by Croesus with the Lydian monarchy, with which they fell
under the dominion of Persia (546 B.C.), and were included in the
satrapy of Phrygia, which comprised all the countries up to the
Hellespont and Bosporus. But even before the conquest by Alexander the
Bithynians appear to have asserted their independence, and successfully
maintained it under two native princes, Bas and Zipoetes, the last of
whom transmitted his power to his son Nicomedes I., the first to assume
the title of king. This monarch founded Nicomedia, which soon rose to
great prosperity, and during his long reign (278-250 B.C.), as well as
those of his successors, Prusias I., Prusias II. and Nicomedes II.
(149-91 B.C.), the kingdom of Bithynia held a considerable place among
the minor monarchies of Asia. But the last king, Nicomedes III., was
unable to maintain himself against Mithradates of Pontus, and, after
being restored to his throne by the Roman senate, he bequeathed his
kingdom by will to the Romans (74 B.C.). Bithynia now became a Roman
province. Its limits were frequently varied, and it was commonly united
for administrative purposes with the province of Pontus. This was the
state of things in the time of Trajan, when the younger Pliny was
appointed governor of the combined provinces (103-105 A.D.), a
circumstance to which we are indebted for valuable information
concerning the Roman provincial administration. Under the Byzantine
empire Bithynia was again divided into two provinces, separated by the
Sangarias, to the west of which the name of Bithynia was restricted.

The most important cities were Nicomedia and Nicaea, which disputed with
one another the rank of capital. Both of these were founded after
Alexander the Great; but at a much earlier period the Greeks had
established on the coast the colonies of Cius (afterwards Prusias, mod.
Gemlik); Chalcedon, at the entrance of the Bosporus, nearly opposite
Constantinople; and Heraclea Pontica, on the Euxine, about 120 m. east
of the Bosporus. All these rose to be flourishing places of trade, as
also Prusa at the foot of M. Olympus (see BRUSA). The only other places
of importance at the present day are Ismid (Nicomedia) and Scutari.

  See C. Texier, _Ásie Mineure_ (Paris, 1839); G. Perrot, _Calatie et
  Bithynie_ (Paris, 1862); W. von Diest in _Petermanns Mittheilungen_,
  Ergansungshelt, 116 (Gotha, 1895).     (E. H. B.; F. W. Ha.)




BITLIS, or BETLIS (Arm. _Paghesh_), the chief town of a vilayet of the
same name in Asiatic Turkey, situated at an altitude of 4700 ft. in the
deep, narrow valley of the Bitlis Chai, a tributary of the Tigris. The
main part of the town and the bazaars are crowded alongside the stream,
while suburbs with scattered houses among orchards and gardens extend up
two tributary streams. The houses are massive and well built of a soft
volcanic tufa, and with their courtyards and gardens climbing up the
hillsides afford a striking picture. At the junction of two streams in
the centre of the town is a fine old castle, partly ruined, which,
according to local tradition, occupies the site of a fortress built by
Alexander the Great. It is apparently an Arab building, as Arabic
inscriptions appear on the walls, but as the town stands on the
principal highway between the Van plateau and the Mesopotamian plain it
must always have been of strategic importance. The bazaars are crowded,
covered across with branches in summer, and typical of a Kurdish town.
The population numbers 35,000, of whom about 12,000 are Armenians and
the remainder are Kurds or of Kurdish descent.

Kurdish beys and sheids have much influence in the town and wild
mountain districts adjoining, while the Sasun mountains, the scene of
successive Armenian revolutions of late years, are not far off to the
west. The town was ruled by a semi-independent Kurdish bey as late as
1836. There are some fine old mosques and _medresses_ (colleges), and
the Armenians have a large monastery and churches. There are British,
French and Russian consuls in the town, and a branch of the American
Mission with schools is established also. The climate is healthy and the
thermometer rarely falls below 0° Fahr., but there is a heavy snowfall
and the narrow streets are blocked for some five months in the year.

A good road runs southward down the pass, passing after a few miles some
large chalybeate and sulphur springs. Roads also lead north to Mush and
Erzerum and along the lake to Van. Postal communication is through
Erzerum with Trebizond. Tobacco of an inferior quality is largely grown,
and the chief industry is the weaving of a coarse red cloth. Manna and
gum tragacanth are also collected. Fruit is also plentiful, and there
are many vineyards close by.

The Bitlis vilayet comprises a very varied section of Asiatic Turkey, as
it includes the Mush plain and the plateau country west of Lake Van, as
well as a large extent of wild mountain districts inhabited by turbulent
Kurds and Armenians on either side of the central town of Bitlis, also
some of the lower country about Sairt along the left bank of the main
stream of the Tigris. The mountains have been little explored, but are
believed to be rich in minerals, iron, lead, copper, traces of gold and
many mineral springs are known to exist.     (F. R. M.)




BITONTO (anc. _Butunti_), a town and episcopal see of Apulia, Italy, in
the province of Bari, 10 m. west by steam tramway from Bari. Pop. (1901)
30,617. It was a place of no importance in classical times. Its medieval
walls are still preserved. Its cathedral is one of the finest examples
of the Romanesque architecture of Apulia, and has escaped damage from
later restorations. The palazzo Sylos-Labini has a fine Renaissance
court of 1502.




BITSCH (Fr. _Bitche_), a town of Germany, in Alsace-Lorraine, on the
Horn, at the foot of the northern slope of the Vosges between Hagenau
and Saargemund. Pop. (1905) 4000. There are a Roman Catholic and a
Protestant church, a classical school and an academy of forestry. The
industries include shoe-making and watch-making, and there is some trade
in grain and timber. The town of Bitsch, which was formed out of the
villages of Rohr and Kaltenhausen in the 17th century, derives its name
from the old stronghold (mentioned in 1172 as Bytis Castrum) standing on
a rock some 250 ft. above the town. This had long given its name to the
countship of Bitsch, which was originally in the possession of the dukes
of Lorraine. In 1297 it passed by marriage to Eberhard I. of
Zweibrücken, whose line became extinct in 1569, when the countship
reverted to Lorraine. It passed with that duchy to France in 1766. After
that date the town rapidly increased in population. The citadel, which
had been constructed by Vauban on the site of the old castle after the
capture of Bitsch by the French in 1624, had been destroyed when it was
restored to Lorraine in 1698. This was restored and strengthened in 1740
into a fortress that proved impregnable in all succeeding wars. The
attack upon it by the Prussians in 1793 was repulsed; in 1815 they had
to be content with blockading it; and in 1870, though it was closely
invested by the Germans after the battle of Wörth, it held out until the
end of the war. A large part of the fortification is excavated in the
red sandstone rock, and rendered bomb-proof; a supply of water is
secured to the garrison by a deep well in the interior.




BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867-   ), American sculptor, was born in
Vienna on the 6th of December 1867. After studying art there, in 1889 he
removed to the United States, where he became naturalized. In America he
gained great popularity as a sculptor, and in 1906-1907 was president of
the National Sculpture Society, New York. Among his principal works are:
the Astor memorial gates, Trinity church, New York; "Elements Controlled
and Uncontrolled," on the Administration Building at the Chicago
Exposition; a large relief, "Triumph of Civilization," in the
waiting-room of the Broad Street station of the Pennsylvania railway in
Philadelphia; decorations for the Dewey Naval Arch in New York City; the
"Standard Bearers," at the Pan-American Exposition grounds; a sitting
statue and a bust of Dr Pepper, provost of the University of
Pennsylvania; and the Villard and Hubbard memorials in the New York
chamber of commerce.




BITTERFELD, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Saxony, 26 m.
N. from Leipzig by rail, on the river Mulde, and an important junction
of railways from Leipzig and Halle to Berlin. Pop. (1900) 11,839. It
manufactures drain-pipes, paper-roofing and machinery, and has
saw-mills. Several coal-mines are in the vicinity. The town was built by
a colony of Flemish immigrants in 1153. It was captured by the landgrave
of Meissen in 1476, and belonged thenceforth to Saxony, until it was
ceded to Prussia in 1815. Owing to its pleasant situation and
accessibility, it has become a favourite residence of business men of
Leipzig and Halle.




BITTERLING (_Rhodeus amarus_), a little carp-like fish of central
Europe, belonging to the Cyprinid family. In it we have a remarkable
instance of symbiosis. The genital papilla of the female acquires a
great development during the breeding season and becomes produced into a
tube nearly as long as the fish itself; this acts as an ovipositor by
means of which the comparatively few and large eggs (3 millimetres in
diameter) are introduced through the gaping valves between the branchiae
of pond mussels (_Unio_ and _Anodonta_), where, after being inseminated,
they undergo their development, the fry leaving their host about a month
later. The mollusc reciprocates by throwing off its embryos on the
parent fish, in the skin of which they remain encysted for some time,
the period of reproduction of the fish and the mussel coinciding.




BITTERN, a genus of wading birds, belonging to the family _Ardeidae_,
comprising several species closely allied to the herons, from which they
differ chiefly in their shorter neck, the back of which is covered with
down, and the front with long feathers, which can be raised at pleasure.
They are solitary birds, frequenting countries possessing extensive
swamps and marshy grounds, remaining at rest by day, concealed among the
reeds and bushes of their haunts, and seeking their food, which consists
of fish, reptiles, insects and small quadrupeds, in the twilight. The
common bittern (_Botaurus stellaris_) is nearly as large as the heron,
and is widely distributed over the eastern hemisphere. Formerly it was
common in Britain, but extensive drainage and persecution have greatly
dimished its numbers and it is now only an uncertain visitor. Not a
winter passes without its appearing in some numbers, when its uncommon
aspect, its large size, and beautifully pencilled plumage cause it to be
regarded as a great prize by the lucky gun-bearer to whom it falls a
victim. Its value as a delicacy for the table, once so highly esteemed,
has long vanished. The old fable of this bird inserting its beak into a
reed or plunging it into the ground, and so causing the booming sound
with which its name will always be associated, is also exploded, and
nowadays indeed so few people in Britain have ever heard its loud and
awful voice, which seems to be uttered only in the breeding-season, and
is therefore unknown in a country where it no longer breeds, that
incredulity as to its booming at all has in some quarters succeeded the
old belief in this as in other reputed peculiarities of the species. The
bittern in the days of falconry was strictly preserved, and afforded
excellent sport. It sits crouching on the ground during the day, with
its bill pointing in the air, a position from which it is not easily
roused, and even when it takes wing, its flight is neither swift nor
long sustained. When wounded it requires to be approached with caution,
as it will then attack either man or dog with its long sharp bill and
its acute claws. It builds a rude nest among the reeds and flags, out of
materials which surround it, and the female lays four or five eggs of a
brownish olive. During the breeding season it utters a booming noise,
from which it probably derives its generic name, _Botaurus_, and which
has made it in many places an object of superstitious dread. Its plumage
for the most part is of a pale buff colour, rayed and speckled with
black and reddish brown. The American bittern (_Botaurus lentiginosus_)
is somewhat smaller than the European species, and is found throughout
the central and southern portions of North America. It also occurs in
Britain as an occasional straggler. It is distinguishable by its uniform
greyish-brown primaries, which want the tawny bars that characterize _B.
stellaris_. Both species are good eating.

[Illustration: Bittern.]




BITTERN (from "bitter"), the mother liquor obtained from sea-water or
brines after the separation of the sodium chloride (common salt) by
crystallization. It contains various magnesium salts (sulphate,
chloride, bromide and iodide) and is employed commercially for the
manufacture of Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) and bromine. The same
term is applied to a mixture of quassia, iron sulphate, _cocculus
indicus_, liquorice, &c., used in adulterating beer.




BITTERS, the name given to aromatized (generally alcoholic) beverages
containing a bitter substance or substances, used as tonics, appetizers
or digestives. The bitterness is imparted by such substances as bitter
orange rind, gentian, rhubarb, quassia, cascarilla, angostura, quinine
and cinchona. Juniper, cinnamon, carraway, camomile, cloves and other
flavouring agents are also employed in conjunction with the bitter
principles, alcohol and sugar. Some bitters are prepared by simple
maceration and subsequent filtration (see LIQUEURS), others by the more
complicated distillation process. Those prepared by the latter process
are the finer commercial articles. Bitters are usually sold under the
name of the substance which has been used to give them the predominant
flavour, such as orange, angostura or peach bitters, &c. The alcoholic
strength of bitters varies, but is generally in the neighbourhood of 40%
of alcohol. Some bitters, although possessing tonic properties, may be
regarded as beverages pure and simple, notwithstanding the fact that
they are seldom consumed in an undiluted state; others again, are
obviously medicinal preparations and should be treated as such.




BITUMEN, the name applied by the Romans to the various descriptions of
natural hydrocarbons, the word _petroleum_ not being used in classical
Latin. In its widest sense it embraces the whole range of these
substances, including _natural gas_, the more or less liquid
descriptions of _petroleum_, and the solid forms of _asphalt, albertite,
gilsonite_ or _uintahite, elaterite, ozokerite_ and _hatchettite_. To
distinguish bitumen intermediate in consistency between asphalt and the
more liquid kinds of crude petroleum, the term _maltha_ (Latin) is
frequently employed. The bitumens of chief commercial importance may be
grouped under the three headings of (1) _natural gas_, (2) _petroleum_,
and (3) _asphalt_, and will be found fully described under these titles.
In the scriptures there are numerous references to bitumen, among which
the following may be quoted:--In Genesis ix. 3, we are told that in the
building of the tower of Babel "slime had they for mortar," and in
Genesis xiv. 10, that the vale of Siddim "was full of slime-pits," the
word _slime_ in the latter quotation from our version appearing as
_bitumen_ in the Vulgate. Herodotus alludes to the use of the bitumen
brought down by the Is, a tributary of the Euphrates, as mortar in
building the walls of Babylon. Diodorus, Curtius, Josephus, Bochart and
others make similar mention of this use of bitumen, and Vitruvius tells
us that it was employed in admixture with clay.

In its various forms, bitumen is one of the most widely distributed of
substances. It occurs, though sometimes only in small quantity, in
almost every part of the globe, and throughout the whole range of
geological strata, from the Laurentian rocks to the most recent members
of the Quaternary period. Although the gaseous and liquid forms of
bitumen may be regarded as having been formed in the strata in which
they are found or as having been received into such strata shortly after
formation, the semi-solid and solid varieties may be considered to have
been produced by the oxidation and evaporation of liquid petroleum
escaping from underlying or better preserved deposits into other strata,
or into fissures where atmospheric action and loss of the more volatile
constituents can take place. It should, however, be stated that there is
some difference of opinion as to the precise manner of production of
some of the solid forms of bitumen, and especially of ozokerite.
     (B. R.)




BITURIGES, a Celtic people, according to Livy (v. 34) the most powerful
in Gaul in the time of Tarquinius Priscus. At some period unknown they
split up into two branches--Bituriges Cubi and Bituriges Vivisci. The
name is supposed to mean either "rulers of the world" or "perpetual
kings."

The Bituriges Cubi, called simply Bituriges by Caesar, in whose time
they acknowledged the supremacy of the Aedui, inhabited the modern
diocese of Bourges, including the departments of Cher and Indre, and
partly that of Allier. Their chief towns were Avaricum (Bourges),
Argentomagus (Argenton-sur-Creuse), Neriomagus (Néris-les-Bains),
Noviodunum (perhaps Villate). At the time of the rebellion of
Vercingetoix (52 B.C.), Avaricum, after a desperate resistance, was
taken by assault, and the inhabitants put to the sword. In the following
year, the Bituriges submitted to Caesar, and under Augustus they were
incorporated (in 28 B.C.) in Aquitania. Pliny (_Nat. Hist._ iv. 109)
speaks of them as _liberi_, which points to their enjoying a certain
amount of independence under Roman government. The district contained a
number of iron works, and Caesar says they were skilled in driving
galleries and mining operations.

The Biturgies Vivisci occupied the strip of land between the sea and the
left bank of the Garonne, comprising the greater part of the modern
department of Gironde. Their capital was Burdigala (Bordeaux), even then
a place of considerable importance and a wine-growing centre. Like the
Cubi, they also are called _liberi_ by Pliny.

  See A. Desjardins, _Géographie historique de la Gaule romaine_, ii.
  (1876-1893); A. Longnon, _Géographie de la Gaule on VI^e siècle_
  (1878); A. Hohler, _Alt-celtischer Sprachschatz_; T.R. Holmes,
  _Caesar's Conquest of Gaul_ (1899).




BITZIUS, ALBRECHT (1797-1854), Swiss novelist, best known by his pet
name of "Jeremias Gotthelf," was born on the 4th of October 1797 at
Morat, where his father was pastor. In 1804 the home was moved to
Utzenstorf, a village in the Bernese Emmenthal. Here young Bitzius grew
up, receiving his early education and consorting with the boys of the
village, as well as helping his father to cultivate his glebe. In 1812
he went to complete his education at Bern, and in 1820 was received as a
pastor. In 1821 he visited the university of Göttingen, but returned
home in 1822 to act as his father's assistant. On his father's death
(1824) he went in the same capacity to Herzogenbuchsee, and later to
Bern (1829). Early in 1831 he went as assistant to the aged pastor of
the village of Lützelflüh, in the Upper Emmenthal (between Langnau and
Burgdorf), being soon elected his successor (1832) and marrying one of
his granddaughters (1833). He spent the rest of his life there, dying on
the 22nd of October 1854, and leaving three children (the son was a
pastor, the two daughters married pastors). His first work, the
_Bauernspiegel_, appeared in 1837. It purported to be the life of
Jeremias Gotthelf, narrated by himself, and this name was later adopted
by the author as his pen name. It is a living picture of Bernese (or,
strictly speaking, Emmenthal) village life, true to nature, and not
attempting to gloss over its defects and failings. It is written (like
the rest of his works) in the Bernese dialect of the Emmenthal, though
it must be remembered that Bitzius was not (like Auerbach) a peasant by
birth, but belonged to the educated classes, so that he reproduces what
he had seen and learnt, and not what he had himself personally
experienced. The book was a great success, as it was a picture of real
life, and not of fancifully beribboned 18th-century villagers. Among his
later tales are the _Leiden und Freuden eines Schulmeisters_
(1838-1839), _Uli der Knecht_ (1841), with its continuation, _Uli der
Pachter_ (1849), _Anne Babi Jowager_ (1843-1844), _Käthi die
Grossmutter_ (1847), _Die Käserei in der Vehfreude_ (1850), and the
_Erlebnisse eines Schuldenbauers_ (1854). He published also several
volumes of shorter tales. One slight drawback to some of his writings is
the echo of local political controversies, for Bitzius was a Whig and
strongly opposed to the Radical party in the canton, which carried the
day in 1846.

  Lives by C. Manuel, in the Berlin edition of Bitzius's works (Berlin,
  1861), and by J. Ammann in vol. i. (Bern, 1884) of the _Sammlung
  Bernischer Biographien_. His works were issued in 24 vols. at Berlin,
  1856-1861, while 10 vols., giving the original text of each story,
  were issued at Bern, 1898-1900 (edition not to be completed).
       (W. A. B. C.)




BIVOUAC (a French word generally said to have been introduced during the
Thirty Years' War, perhaps derived from _Beiwacht_, extra guard),
originally, a night-watch by a whole army under arms to prevent
surprise. In modern military parlance the word is used to mean a
temporary encampment in the open field without tents, as opposed to
"billets" or "cantonment" on the one hand and "camp" on the other. The
use of bivouacs permits an army to remain closely concentrated for all
emergencies, and avoids the necessity for numerous wagons carrying
tents. Constant bivouacs, however, are trying to the health of men and
horses, and this method of quartering is never employed except when the
military situation demands concentration and readiness. Thus the
outposts would often have to bivouac while the main body of the army lay
in billets.




BIWA, a lake in the province of Omi, Japan. It measures 36 m. in length
by 12 m. in extreme breadth, has an area of 180 sq. m., is about 330 ft.
above sea-level, and has an extreme depth of some 300 ft. There are a
few small islands in the lake, the principal being Chikubu-shima at the
northern end.

Tradition alleges that Lake Biwa and the mountain of Fuji were produced
simultaneously by an earthquake in 286 B.C. On the west of the lake the
mountains Hiei-zan and Hira-yama slope down almost to its margin, and on
the east a wide plain extends towards the boundaries of the province of
Mino. It is drained by a river flowing out of its southern end, and
taking its course into the sea at Osaka. This river bears in succession
the names of Seta-gawa, Uji-gawa and Yodo-gawa. The lake abounds with
fish, and the beauty of its scenery is remarkable. Small steamboats ply
constantly to the points of chief interest, and around its shores are to
be viewed the _Omi-no-hakkei_, or "eight landscapes of Omi"; namely, the
lake silvering under an autumn moon as one looks down from Ishi-yama;
the snow at eve on Hira-yama; the glow of sunset at Seta; the groves and
classic temple of Mii-dera as the evening bell sounds; boats sailing
home from Yabase; cloudless peaks at Awazu; rain at nightfall over
Karasaki; and wild geese sweeping down to Katata. The lake is connected
with Kyoto by a canal constructed in 1890, and is thus brought into
water communication with Osaka.




BIXIO, NINO (1821-1873), Italian soldier, was born on the 2nd of October
1821. While still a boy he was compelled by his parents to embrace a
maritime career. After numerous adventures he returned to Italy in 1846,
joined the Giovine Italia, and, on 4th November 1847, made himself
conspicuous at Genoa by seizing the bridle of Charles Albert's horse and
crying, "Pass the Ticino, Sire, and we are all with you." He fought
through the campaign of 1848, became captain under Garibaldi at Rome in
1849, taking prisoners an entire French battalion, and gaining the gold
medal for military valour. In 1859 he commanded a Garibaldian battalion,
and gained the military cross of Savoy. Joining the Marsala expedition
in 1860, he turned the day in favour of Garibaldi at Calatafimi, was
wounded at Palermo, but recovered in time to besiege Reggio in Calabria
(21st of August 1860), and, though again wounded, took part in the
battle of Volturno, where his leg was broken. Elected deputy in 1861, he
endeavoured to reconcile Cavour and Garibaldi. In 1866, at the head of
the seventh division, he covered the Italian retreat from Custozza,
ignoring the Austrian summons to surrender. Created senator in February
1870, he was in the following September given command of a division
during the movement against Rome, took Cività Vecchia, and participated
in the general attack upon Rome (20th September 1870). He died of
cholera at Achin Bay in Sumatra _en route_ for Batavia, whither he had
gone in command of a commercial expedition (16th December 1873).




BIZERTA (properly pronounced Ben Zert; Fr. _Bizerte_), a seaport of
Tunisia, in 37° 17' N., 9° 50' E. Pop. about 12,000. Next to Toulon,
Bizerta is the most important naval port of France in the Mediterranean.
It occupies a commanding strategical position in the narrowest part of
the sea, being 714 m. E. of Gibraltar, 1168 m. W.N.W. of Port Said, 240
m. N.W. of Malta, and 420 m. S. by E. of Toulon. It is 60 m. by rail
N.N.W. of Tunis. The town is built on the shores of the Mediterranean at
the point where the Lake of Bizerta enters the sea through a natural
channel, the mouth of which has been canalized. The modern town lies
almost entirely on the north side of the canal. A little farther north
are the ancient citadel, the walled "Arab" town and the old harbour
(disused). The present outer harbour covers about 300 acres and is
formed by two converging jetties and a breakwater. The north jetty is
4000 ft. long, the east jetty 3300 ft., and the breakwater--which
protects the port from the prevalent north-east winds--2300 ft. long.
The entrance to the canal is in the centre of the outer harbour. The
canal is 2600 ft. long and 787 ft. wide on the surface. Its banks are
lined with quays, and ships drawing 26 ft. of water can moor alongside.
At the end of the canal is a large commercial harbour, beyond which the
channel opens into the lake--in reality an arm of the sea--roughly
circular in form and covering about 50 sq. m., two-thirds of its waters
having a depth of 30 to 40 ft. The lake, which merchant vessels are not
allowed to enter, contains the naval port and arsenal. There is a
torpedo and submarine boat station on the north side of the channel at
the entrance to the lake, but the principal naval works are at Sidi
Abdallah at the south-west corner of the lake and 10 m. from the open
sea. Here is an enclosed basin covering 123 acres with ample quayage,
dry docks and everything necessary to the accommodation, repair,
revictualling and coaling of a numerous fleet. Barracks, hospitals and
waterworks have been built, the military town, called Ferryville, being
self-contained.

Fortifications have been built for the protection of the port. They
comprise (a) the older works surrounding the town; (b) a group of coast
batteries on the high ground of Cape Bizerta or Guardia, 4 m.
north-north-west of the town; these are grouped round a powerful fort
called Jebel Kebir, and have a command of 300 to 800 ft. above
sea-level; (c) another group of batteries on the narrow ground between
the sea and the lake to the east of the town; the highest of these is
the Jebel Tuila battery 265 ft. above sea-level.

The LAKE OF BIZERTA, called Tinja by the Arabs, abounds in excellent
fish, especially mullets, the dried roe of which, called _botargo_, is
largely exported, and the fishing industry employs a large proportion of
the inhabitants. The western shore of the lake is low, and in many
places is covered with olive trees to the water's edge. The
south-eastern shores are hilly and wooded, and behind them rises a range
of picturesque hills. A narrow and shallow channel leads from the
western side of the lake into another sheet of water, the Lake of
Ishkul, so called from Jebel Ishkul, a hill on its southern bank 1740
ft. high. The Lake of Ishkul is nearly as large as the first lake, but
is very shallow. Its waters are generally sweet.

Bizerta occupies the site of the ancient Tyrian colony, Hippo Zarytus or
Diarrhytus, the harbour of which, by means of a spacious pier,
protecting it from the north-east wind, was rendered one of the safest
and finest on this coast. The town became a Roman colony, and was
conquered by the Arabs in the 7th century. The place thereafter was
subject either to the rulers of Tunis or of Constantine, but the
citizens were noted for their frequent revolts. They threw in their lot
(c. 1530) with the pirate Khair-ed-Din, and subsequently received a
Turkish garrison. Bizerta was captured by the Spaniards in 1535, but not
long afterwards came under the Tunisian government. Centuries of neglect
followed, and the ancient port was almost choked up, though the value of
the fisheries saved the town from utter decay. Its strategical
importance was one of the causes which led to the occupation of Tunisia
by the French in 1881. In 1890 a concession for a new canal and harbour
was granted to a company, and five years later the new port was formally
opened. Since then the canal has been widened and deepened, and the
naval port at Sidi Abdallah created.




BIZET [ALEXANDRE CÉSAR LÉOPOLD] GEORGES (1838-1875), French musical
composer, was born at Bougival, near Paris, on the 25th of October 1838,
the son of a singing-master. He displayed musical ability at an early
age, and was sent to the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied under
Halévy and speedily distinguished himself, carrying off prizes for organ
and fugue, and finally in 1857, after an ineffectual attempt in the
previous year, the Grand Prix de Rome for a cantata called _Cloris et
Clotilde_. A success of a different kind also befell him at this time.
Offenbach, then manager of the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, had
organized a competition for an operetta, in which young Bizet was
awarded the first prize in conjunction with Charles Lecocq, each of them
writing an operetta called _Docteur Miracle_. After the three years
spent in Rome, an obligation imposed by the French government on the
winners of the first prize at the Conservatoire, Bizet returned to
Paris, where he achieved a reputation as a pianist and accompanist. On
the 23rd of September 1863 his first opera, _Les Pêcheurs de perles_,
was brought out at the Théâtre Lyrique, but owing possibly to the
somewhat uninteresting nature of the story, the opera did not enjoy a
very long run. The qualities displayed by the composer, however, were
amply recognized, although the music was stated, by some critics, to
exhibit traces of Wagnerian influence. Wagnerism at that period was a
sort of spectre that haunted the imagination of many leading members of
the musical press. It sufficed for a work to be at all out of the common
for the epithet "Wagnerian" to be applied to it. The term, it may be
said, was intended to be condemnatory, and it was applied with little
understanding as to its real meaning. The score of the _Pêcheurs de
perles_ contains several charming numbers; its dreamy melodies are well
adapted to fit a story laid in Eastern climes, and the music reveals a
decided dramatic temperament. Some of its dances are now usually
introduced into the fourth act of _Carmen_.

On the 3rd of June 1865 Bizet married a daughter of his old master,
Halévy. His second opera, _La Jolie Fitte de Perth_, produced at the
Théâtre Lyrique on 26th December 1867, was scarcely a step in advance.
The libretto was founded on Sir Walter Scott's novel, but the opera
lacks unity of style, and its pages are marred by concessions to the
vocalist. One number has survived, the characteristic Bohemian dance
which has been interpolated into the fourth act of _Carmen_. In his
third opera Bizet returned to an oriental subject. _Djamileh_, a one-act
opera given at the Opéra Comique on the 22nd of May 1872, is certainly
one of his most individual efforts. Again were accusations of Wagnerism
hurled at the composer's head, and _Djamileh_ did not achieve the
success it undoubtedly deserved. The composer was more fortunate with
the incidental music he wrote to Alphonse Daudet's drama,
_L'Arlésienne_, produced in October 1872. Different numbers from this,
arranged in the form of suites, have often been heard in the
concert-room. Rarely have poetry and imagination been so well allied as
in these exquisite pages, which seem to reflect the sunny skies of
Provence.

Bizet's masterpiece, _Carmen_, was brought out at the Opéra Comique on
the 3rd of March 1875. It was based on a version by Meilhac and Halévy
of a study by Prosper Mérimée--in which the dramatic element was
obscured by much descriptive writing. The detection of the drama
underlying this psychological narrative was in itself a brilliant
discovery, and in reconstructing the story in dramatic form the authors
produced one of the most famous libretti in the whole range of opera.
Still more striking than the libretto was the music composed by Bizet,
in which the peculiar use of the flute and of the lowest notes of the
harp deserves particular attention.

On the 3rd of June, three months after the production of _Carmen_ in
Paris, the genial composer expired after a few hours' illness from a
heart affection. Before dying he had the satisfaction of knowing that
_Carmen_ had been accepted for production at Vienna. After the Austrian
capital came Brussels, Berlin and, in 1878, London, when _Carmen_ was
brought out at Her Majesty's theatre with immense success. The influence
exercised by Bizet on dramatic music has been very great, and may be
discerned in the realistic works of the young Italian school, as well as
in those of his own countrymen.




BJÖRNEBORG (Finnish, _Pori_), a district town of Finland, province of
Åbo-Björneborg, on the E. coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, at the mouth of
the Kumo. Lat. 51° 8' N., long. 46° 0' E. Pop. (1904) 16,053, mostly
Swedes. Large vessels cannot enter its roadstead, and stop at Räfsö. The
town has shipbuilding wharves, machine works, and several tanneries and
brick-works, and has a total trade of over 16,000,000 marks, the chief
export being timber.




BJÖRNSON, BJÖRNSTJERNE (1832-1910), Norwegian poet, novelist and
dramatist, was born on the 8th of December 1832 at the farmstead of
Björngen, in Kvikne, in Österdal, Norway. In 1837 his father, who had been
pastor of Kvikne, was transferred to the parish of Noesset, in Romsdal; in
this romantic district the childhood of Björnson was spent. After some
teaching at the neighbouring town of Molde, he was sent at the age of
seventeen to a well-known school in Christiania to study for the
university; his instinct for poetry was already awakened, and indeed he
had written verses from his eleventh year. He matriculated at the
university of Christiania in 1852, and soon began to work as a journalist,
especially as a dramatic critic. In 1857 appeared _Synnöve Solbakken_, the
first of Björnson's peasant-novels; in 1858 this was followed by _Arne_,
in 1860 by _A Happy Boy_, and in 1868 by _The Fisher Maiden_. These are
the most important specimens of his _bonde-fortaellinger_ or
peasant-tales--a section of his literary work which has made a profound
impression in his own country, and has made him popular throughout the
world. Two of the tales, _Arne_ and _Synnöve Solbakken_, offer perhaps
finer examples of the pure peasant-story than are to be found elsewhere in
literature.

Björnson was anxious "to create a new saga in the light of the peasant,"
as he put it, and he thought this should be done, not merely in prose
fiction, but in national dramas or _folke-stykker_. The earliest of
these was a one-act piece the scene of which is laid in the 12th
century, _Between the Battles_, was written in 1855, but not produced
until 1857. He was especially influenced at this time by the study of
Baggesen and Ochlenschläger, during a visit to Copenhagen 1856-1857.
_Between the Battles_ was followed by _Lame Hulda_ in 1858, and _King
Sverre_ in 1861. All these efforts, however, were far excelled by the
splendid trilogy of _Sigurd the Bastard_, which Björnson issued in 1862.
This raised him to the front rank among the younger poets of Europe. His
_Sigurd the Crusader_ should be added to the category of these heroic
plays, although it was not printed until 1872.

At the close of 1857 Björnson had been appointed director of the theatre
at Bergen, a post which he held, with much journalistic work, for two
years, when he returned to the capital. From 1860 to 1863 he travelled
widely throughout Europe. Early in 1865 he undertook the management of
the Christiania theatre, and brought out his popular comedy of _The
Newly Married_ and his romantic tragedy of _Mary Stuart in Scotland_.
Although Björnson has introduced into his novels and plays songs of
extraordinary beauty, he was never a very copious writer of verse; in
1870 he published his _Poems and Songs_ and the epic cycle called
_Arnljot Gelline_; the latter volume contains the magnificent ode called
"Bergliot," Björnson's finest contribution to lyrical poetry. Between
1864 and 1874, in the very prime of life, Björnson displayed a
slackening of the intellectual forces very remarkable in a man of his
energy; he was indeed during these years mainly occupied with politics,
and with his business as a theatrical manager. This was the period of
Björnson's most fiery propaganda as a radical agitator. In 1871 he began
to supplement his journalistic work in this direction by delivering
lectures over the length and breadth of the northern countries. He
possessed to a surprising degree the arts of the orator, combined with a
magnificent physical prestige. From 1873 to 1876 Björnson was absent
from Norway, and in the peace of voluntary exile he recovered his
imaginative powers. His new departure as a dramatic author began with _A
Bankruptcy_ and _The Editor_ in 1874, social dramas of an extremely
modern and realistic cast.

The poet now settled on his estate of Aulestad in Gausdal. In 1877 he
published another novel, _Magnhild_--an imperfect production, in which
his ideas on social questions were seen to be in a state of
fermentation, and gave expression to his republican sentiments in the
polemical play called _The King_, to a later edition of which he
prefixed an essay on "Intellectual Freedom," in further explanation of
his position. _Captain Mansana_, an episode of the war of Italian
independence, belongs to 1878. Extremely anxious to obtain a full
success on the stage, Björnson concentrated his powers on a drama of
social life, _Leonardo_ (1879), which raised a violent controversy. A
satirical play, _The New System_, was produced a few weeks later.
Although these plays of Björnson's second period were greatly discussed,
none of them (except _A Bankruptcy_) pleased on the boards. When once
more he produced a social drama, _A Gauntlet_, in 1883, he was unable to
persuade any manager to stage it, except in a modified form, though this
play gives the full measure of his power as a dramatist. In the autumn
of the same year, Björnson published a mystical or symbolic drama
_Beyond our Powers_, dealing with the abnormal features of religious
excitement with extraordinary force; this was not acted until 1899, when
it achieved a great success.

Meanwhile, Björnson's political attitude had brought upon him a charge
of high treason, and he took refuge for a time in Germany, returning to
Norway in 1882. Convinced that the theatre was practically closed to
him, he turned back to the novel, and published in 1884, _Flags are
Flying in Town and Port_, embodying his theories on heredity and
education. In 1889 he printed another long and still more remarkable
novel, _In God's Way_, which is chiefly concerned with the same
problems. The same year saw the publication of a comedy, _Geography and
Love_, which continues to be played with success. A number of short
stories, of a more or less didactic character, dealing with startling
points of emotional experience, were collected in 1894; among them those
which produced the greatest sensation were _Dust, Mother's Hands_, and
_Absalom's Hair_. Later plays were a political tragedy called _Paul
Lange and Tora Parsberg_ (1898), a second part of _Beyond our Powers_
(1895), _Laboremus_ (1901), _At Storhove_ (1902), and _Daglannet_
(1904). In 1899, at the opening of the National theatre, Björnson
received an ovation, and his saga-drama of _Sigurd the Crusader_ was
performed.

A subject which interested him greatly, and on which he occupied his
indefatigable pen, was the question of the _bonde-maal_, the adopting of
a national language for Norway distinct from the _dansk-norsk_
(Dano-Norwegian), in which her literature has hitherto been written.
Björnson's strong and sometimes rather narrow patriotism did not blind
him to the fatal folly of such a proposal, and his lectures and
pamphlets against the _maal-straev_ in its extreme form did more than
anything else to save the language in this dangerous moment. Björnson
was one of the original members of the Nobel committee, and was
re-elected in 1900. In 1903 he was awarded the Nobel prize for
literature. Björnson had done as much as any other man to rouse
Norwegian national feeling, but in 1903, on the verge of the rupture
between Norway and Sweden, he preached conciliation and moderation to
the Norwegians. He was an eloquent advocate of Pan-Germanism, and,
writing to the _Figaro_ in 1905, he outlined a Pan-Germanic alliance of
northern Europe and North America. He died on the 26th of April 1910.

  See Björnson's _Samlede Vaerker_ (Copenhagen, 1900-1902, 11 vols.);
  _The Novels of Björnstjerne Björnson_ (1894, &c.), edited by Edmund
  Gosse; G. Brandes, _Critical Studies_ (1899); E. Tissot, _Le drame
  norvégien_ (1893); C.D. af Wirsén, _Kritiker_ (1901); Chr. Collin,
  _Björnstjerne Björnson_ (2 vols., German ed., 1903), the most complete
  biography and criticism at present available; and B. Halvorsen, _Norsk
  Forfatter Lexikon_ (1885).     (E. G.)




BLACHFORD, FREDERIC ROGERS, BARON (1811-1889), British civil servant,
eldest son of Sir Frederick Leman Rogers, 7th Bart. (whom he succeeded
in the baronetcy in 1851), was born in London on the 31st of January
1811. He was educated at Eton and Oriel college, Oxford, where he had a
brilliant career, winning the Craven University scholarship, and taking
a double first-class in classics and mathematics. He became a fellow of
Oriel (1833), and won the Vinerian scholarship (1834), and fellowship
(1840). He was called to the bar in 1837, but never practised. At school
and at Oxford he was a contemporary of W.E. Gladstone, and at Oxford he
began a lifelong friendship with J.H. Newman and R.W. Church; his
classical and literary tastes, and his combination of liberalism in
politics with High Church views in religion, together with his good
social position and interesting character, made him an admired member of
their circles. For two or three years (1841-1844) he wrote for _The
Times_, and he helped to found _The Guardian_ in 1846; he also did a
good deal to assist the Tractarian movement. But he eventually settled
down to the life of a government official. He began in 1844 as registrar
of joint-stock companies, and in 1846 became commissioner of lands and
emigration. Between 1857 and 1859 he was engaged in government missions
abroad, connected with colonial questions, and in 1860 he was appointed
permanent under-secretary of state for the colonies. Sir Frederic Rogers
was the guiding spirit of the colonial office under six successive
secretaries of state, and on his retirement in 1871 was raised to the
peerage as Baron Blachford of Wisdome, a title taken from his place in
Devonshire. He died on the 21st of November 1889.

  A volume of his letters, edited by G.E. Marindin (1896), contains an
  interesting Life, partly autobiographical.




BLACK, ADAM (1784-1874), Scottish publisher, founder of the firm of A. &
C. Black, the son of a builder, was born in Edinburgh on the 20th of
February 1784. After serving his apprenticeship to the bookselling trade
in Edinburgh and London, he began business for himself in Edinburgh in
1808. By 1826 he was recognized as one of the principal booksellers in
the city; and a few years later he was joined in business by his nephew
Charles. The two most important events connected with the history of the
firm were the publication of the 7th, 8th and 9th editions of the
_Encyclopaedia Brittannica_, and the purchase of the stock and copyright
of the Waverley Novels. The copyright of the _Encyclopaedia_ passed into
the hands of Adam Black and a few friends in 1827. In 1851 the firm
bought the copyright of the Waverley Novels for £27,000; and in 1861
they became the proprietors of De Quincey's works. Adam Black was twice
lord provost of Edinburgh, and represented the city in parliament from
1856 to 1865. He retired from business in 1865, and died on the 24th of
January 1874. He was succeeded by his sons, who removed their business
in 1895 to London. There is a bronze statue of Adam Black in East
Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh.

  See _Memoirs of Adam Black_, edited by Alexander Nicholson (2nd ed.,
  Edinburgh, 1885).




BLACK, JEREMIAH SULLIVAN (1810-1883), American lawyer and statesman, was
born in Stony Creek township, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, on the 10th
of January 1810. He was largely self-educated, and before he was of age
was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar. He gradually became one of the
leading American lawyers, and in 1851-1857 was a member of the supreme
court of Pennsylvania (chief-justice 1851-1854). In 1857 he entered
President Buchanan's cabinet as attorney-general of the United States.
In this capacity he successfully contested the validity of the
"California land claims"--claims to about 19,000 sq. m. of land,
fraudulently alleged to have been granted to land-grabbers and others by
the Mexican government prior to the close of the Mexican War. From the
17th of December 1860 to the 4th of March 1861 he was secretary of
state. Perhaps the most influential of President Buchanan's official
advisers, he denied the constitutionality of secession, and urged that
Fort Sumter be properly reinforced and defended. "For ... the vigorous
assertion at last in word and in deed that the United States is a
nation," says James Ford Rhodes, "for pointing out the way in which the
authority of the Federal government might be exercised without
infringing on the rights of the states, the gratitude of the American
people is due to Jeremiah S. Black." He became reporter to the Supreme
Court of the United States in 1861, but after publishing the reports for
the years 1861 and 1862 he resigned, and devoted himself almost
exclusively to his private practice, appearing in such important cases
before the Supreme Court as the one known as _Ex-Parte Milligan_, in
which he ably defended the right of trial by jury, the McCardle case and
the _United States_ v. _Blyew et al_. After the Civil War he vigorously
opposed the Congressional plan of reconstructing the late Confederate
states, and himself drafted the message of President Johnson, vetoing
the Reconstruction Act of the 2nd of March 1867. Black was also for a
short time counsel for President Andrew Johnson, in his trial on the
article of impeachment, before the United States Senate, and for William
W. Belknap (1829-1890), secretary of war from 1869 to 1876, who in 1876
was impeached on a charge of corruption; and with others he represented
Samuel J. Tilden during the contest for the presidency between Tilden
and Hayes (see ELECTORAL COMMISSION). He died at Brockie, Pennsylvania,
on the 19th of August 1883.

  See _Essays and Speeches of Jeremiah S. Black, with a Biographical
  Sketch_ (New York, 1885), by his son, C.F. Black.




BLACK, JOSEPH (1728-1799), Scottish chemist and physicist, was born in
1728 at Bordeaux, where his father--a native of Belfast but of Scottish
descent--was engaged in the wine trade. At the age of twelve he was sent
to a grammar school in Belfast, whence he removed in 1746 to study
medicine in Glasgow. There he had William Cullen for his instructor in
chemistry, and the relation between the two soon became that of
professor and assistant rather than of master and pupil. The action of
lithontriptic medicines, especially lime-water, was one of the questions
of the day, and through his investigations of this subject Black was led
to the chemical discoveries associated with his name. The causticity of
alkaline bodies was explained at that time as depending on the presence
in them of the principle of fire, "phlogiston"; quicklime, for instance,
was chalk which had taken up phlogiston, and when mild alkalis such as
sodium or potassium carbonate were causticized by its aid, the
phlogiston was supposed to pass from it to them. Black showed that on
the contrary causticization meant the loss of something, as proved by
loss of weight; and this something he found to be an "air," which,
because it was fixed in the substance before it was causticized, he
spoke of as "fixed air." Taking _magnesia alba_, which he distinguished
from limestone with which it had previously been confused, he showed
that on being heated it lost weight owing to the escape of this fixed
air (named carbonic acid by Lavoisier in 1781), and that the weight was
regained when the calcined product was made to reabsorb the fixed air
with which it had parted. These investigations, by which Black not only
gave a great impetus to the chemistry of gases by clearly indicating the
existence of a gas distinct from common air, but also anticipated
Lavoisier and modern chemistry by his appeal to the balance, were
described in the thesis _De humore acido a cibis orto, et magnesia
alba_, which he presented for his doctor's degree in 1754; and a fuller
account of them was read before the Medical Society of Edinburgh in June
1753, and published in the following year as _Experiments upon magnesia,
quicklime and some other alkaline substances_.

It is curious that Black left to others the detailed study of this
"fixed air" he had discovered. Probably the explanation is pressure of
other work. In 1756 he succeeded Cullen as lecturer in chemistry at
Glasgow, and was also appointed professor of anatomy, though that post
he was glad to exchange for the chair of medicine. The preparation of
lectures thus took up much of his time, and he was also gaining an
extensive practice as a physician. Moreover, his attention was engaged
on studies which ultimately led to his doctrine of latent heat. He
noticed that when ice melts it takes up a quantity of heat without
undergoing any change of temperature, and he argued that this heat,
which as was usual in his time he looked upon as a subtle fluid, must
have combined with the particles of ice and thus become latent in its
substance. This hypothesis he verified quantitatively by experiments,
performed at the end of 1761. In 1764, with the aid of his assistant,
William Irvine (1743-1787), he further measured the latent heat of
steam, though not very accurately. This doctrine of latent heat he
taught in his lectures from 1761 onwards, and in April 1762 he described
his work to a literary society in Glasgow. But he never published any
detailed account of it, so that others, such as J.A. Deluc, were able to
claim the credit of his results. In the course of his inquiries he also
noticed that different bodies in equal masses require different amounts
of heat to raise them to the same temperature, and so founded the
doctrine of specific heats; he also showed that equal additions or
abstractions of heat produced equal variations of bulk in the liquid of
his thermometers. In 1766 he succeeded Cullen in the chair of chemistry
in Edinburgh, where he devoted practically all his time to the
preparation of his lectures. Never very robust, his health gradually
became weaker and ultimately he was reduced to the condition of a
valetudinarian. In 1795 he received the aid of a coadjutor in his
professorship, and two years later he lectured for the last time. He
died in Edinburgh on the 6th of December 1799 (not on the 26th of
November as stated in Robison's life).

As a scientific investigator, Black was conspicuous for the carefulness
of his work and his caution in drawing conclusions. Holding that
chemistry had not attained the rank of a science--his lectures dealt
with the "effects of heat and mixture"--he had an almost morbid horror
of hasty generalization or of anything that had the pretensions of a
fully fledged system. This mental attitude, combined with a certain lack
of initiative and the weakness of his health, probably prevented him
from doing full justice to his splendid powers of experimental research.
Apart from the work already mentioned he published only two papers
during his life-time--"The supposed effect of boiling on water, in
disposing it to freeze more readily" (_Phil. Trans._, 1775), and "An
analysis of the waters of the hot springs in Iceland" (_Trans. Roy. Soc.
Ed._, 1794).

  After his death his lectures were written out from his own notes,
  supplemented by those of some of his pupils, and published with a
  biographical preface by his friend and colleague, Professor John
  Robison (1739-1805), in 1803 as _Lectures on the Elements of
  Chemistry, delivered in the University of Edinburgh_.




BLACK, WILLIAM (1841-1898), British novelist, was born at Glasgow on the
9th of November 1841. His early ambition was to be a painter, but he
made no way, and soon had recourse to journalism for a living. He was at
first employed in newspaper offices in Glasgow, but obtained a post on
the _Morning Star_ in London, and at once proved himself a descriptive
writer of exceptional vivacity. During the war between Prussia and
Austria in 1866 he represented the _Morning Star_ at the front, and was
taken prisoner. This paper shortly afterwards failed, and Black joined
the editorial staff of the _Daily News_. He also edited the _Examiner_,
at a time when that periodical was already moribund. After his first
success in fiction, he gave up journalism, and devoted himself entirely
to the production of novels. For nearly thirty years he was successful
in retaining the popular favour. He died at Brighton on the 10th of
December 1898, without having experienced any of that reaction of the
public taste which so often follows upon conspicuous successes in
fiction. Black's first novel, _James Merle_, published in 1864, was a
complete failure; his second, _Love or Marraige_ (1868), attracted but
very slight attention. _In Silk Attire_ (1869) and _Kilmeny_ (1870)
marked a great advance on his first work, but in 1871 _A Daughter of
Heth_ suddenly raised him to the height of popularity, and he followed
up this success by a string of favourites. Among the best of his books
are _The Strange Adventures of a Phaeton_ (1872); _A Princess of Thule_
(1874); _Madcap Violet_ (1876); _Macleod of Dare_ (1878); _White Wings_
(1880); _Sunrise_ (1880); _Shandon Bells_ (1883); _Judith Shakespeare_
(1884); _White Heather_ (1885); _Donald Ross of Heimra_ (1891);
_Highland Cousins_ (1894); and _Wild Eelin_ (1898). Black was a
thoroughgoing sportsman, particularly fond of fishing and yachting, and
his best stories are those which are laid amid the breezy mountains of
his native land, or upon the deck of a yacht at sea off its wild coast.
His descriptions of such scenery are simple and picturesque. He was a
word-painter rather than a student of human nature. His women are
stronger than his men, and among them are many wayward and lovable
creatures; but subtlety of intuition plays no part in his
characterization. Black also contributed a life of Oliver Goldsmith to
the _English Men of Letters_ series.




BLACK APE, a sooty, black, short-tailed, and long-faced representative
of the macaques, inhabiting the island of Celebes, and generally
regarded as forming a genus by itself, under the name of _Cynopithecus
niger_, but sometimes relegated to the rank of a subgenus of _Macacus_.
The nostrils open obliquely at some distance from the end of the snout,
and the head carries a crest of long hair. There are several local
races, one of which was long regarded as a separate species under the
name of the Moor macaque, _Macacus maurus_. (See PRIMATES.)




BLACKBALL, a token used for voting by ballot against the election of a
candidate for membership of a club or other association. Formerly white
and black balls about the size of pigeons' eggs were used respectively
to represent votes for and against a candidate for such election; and
although this method is now generally obsolete, the term "blackball"
survives both as noun and verb. The rules of most clubs provide that a
stated proportion of "blackballs" shall exclude candidates proposed for
election, and the candidates so excluded are said to have been
"blackballed"; but the ballot (q.v.) is now usually conducted by a
method in which the favourable and adverse votes are not distinguished
by different coloured balls at all. Either voting papers are employed,
or balls--of which the colour has no significance--are cast into
different compartments of a ballot-box according as they are favourable
or adverse to the candidate.




BLACKBERRY, or BRAMBLE, known botanically as _Rubus fruticosus_ (natural
order Rosaceac), a native of the north temperate region of the Old
World, and abundant in the British Isles as a copse and hedge-plant. It
is characterized by its prickly stem, leaves with usually three or five
ovate, coarsely toothed stalked leaflets, many of which persist through
the winter, white or pink flowers in terminal clusters, and black or
red-purple fruits, each consisting of numerous succulent drupels crowded
on a dry conical receptacle. It is a most variable plant, exhibiting
many more or less distinct forms which are regarded by different
authorities as sub-species or species. In America several forms of the
native blackberry, _Rubus nigrobaccus_ (formerly known as _R.
villosus_), are widely cultivated; it is described as one of the most
important and profitable of bush-fruits.

  For details see F.W. Card in L.H. Bailey's _Cyclopedia of American
  Horticulture_ (1900).




BLACKBIRD (_Turdus merula_), the name commonly given to a well-known
British bird of the _Turdidae_ family, for which the ancient name was
ousel (q.v.), Anglo-Saxon _ósle_, equivalent of the German _Amsel_, a
form of the word found in several old English books. The plumage of the
male is of a uniform black colour, that of the female various shades of
brown, while the bill of the male, especially during the breeding
season, is of a bright gamboge yellow. The blackbird is of a shy and
restless disposition, courting concealment, and rarely seen in flocks,
or otherwise than singly or in pairs, and taking flight when startled
with a sharp shrill cry. It builds its nest in March, or early in April,
in thick bushes or in ivy-clad trees, and usually rears at least two
broods each season. The nest is a neat structure of coarse grass and
moss, mixed with earth, and plastered internally with mud, and here the
female lays from four to six eggs of a blue colour speckled with brown.
The blackbird feeds chiefly on fruits, worms, the larvae of insects and
snails, extracting the last from their shells by dexterously chipping
them on stones; and though it is generally regarded as an enemy of the
garden, it is probable that the amount of damage by it to the fruit is
largely compensated for by its undoubted services as a vermin-killer.
The notes of the blackbird are rich and full, but monotonous as compared
with those of the song-thrush. Like many other singing birds it is, in
the wild state, a mocking-bird, having been heard to imitate the song
of the nightingale, the crowing of a cock, and even the cackling of a
hen. In confinement it can be taught to whistle a variety of tunes, and
even to imitate the human voice.

The blackbird is found in every country of Europe, even
breeding--although rarely--beyond the arctic circle, and in eastern Asia
as well as in North Africa and the Atlantic islands. In most parts of
its range it is migratory, and in Britain every autumn its numbers
receive considerable accession from passing visitors. Allied species
inhabit most parts of the world, excepting Africa south of the Sahara,
New Zealand and Australia proper, and North America. In some of these
the legs as well as the bill are yellow or orange; and in a few both
sexes are glossy black. The ring-ousel, _Turdus torquatus_, has a dark
bill and conspicuous white gorget, whence its name. It is rarer and more
local than the common blackbird, and occurs in England only as a
temporary spring and autumn visitor.




BLACK BUCK (_Antilope cervicapra_), the Indian Antelope, the sole
species of its genus. This antelope, widely distributed in India, with
the exception of Ceylon and the region east of the Bay of Bengal, stands
about 32 in. high at the shoulder; the general hue is brown deepening
with age to black; chest, belly and inner sides of limbs pure white, as
are the muzzle and chin, and an area round the eyes. The horns are long,
ringed, and form spirals with from three to five turns. The doe is
smaller in size, yellowish-fawn above, and this hue obtains also in
young males. These antelopes frequent grassy districts and are usually
found in herds. Coursing black-buck with the cheeta (q.v.) is a
favourite Indian sport.




BLACKBURN, COLIN BLACKBURN, BARON (1813-1896), British judge, was born
in Selkirkshire in 1813, and educated at Eton and at Trinity College,
Cambridge, taking high mathematical honours in 1835. He was called to
the bar in 1838, and went the northern circuit. His progress was at
first slow, and he employed himself in reporting and editing, with T.F.
Ellis, eight volumes of the highly-esteemed Ellis and Blackburn reports.
His deficiency in all the more brilliant qualities of the advocate
almost confined his practice to commercial cases, in which he obtained
considerable employment in his circuit; but he continued to belong to
the outside bar, and was so little known to the legal world that his
promotion to a puisne judgeship in the court of queen's bench in 1859
was at first ascribed to Lord Campbell's partiality for his countrymen,
but Lord Lyndhurst, Lord Wensleydale and Lord Cranworth came forward to
defend the appointment. Blackburn himself is said to have thought that a
county court judgeship was about to be offered him, which he had
resolved to decline. He soon proved himself one of the soundest lawyers
on the bench, and when he was promoted to the court of appeal in 1876
was considered the highest authority on common law. In 1876 he was made
a lord of appeal and a life peer. Both in this capacity and as judge of
the queen's bench he delivered many judgments of the highest importance,
and no decisions have been received with greater respect. In 1886 he was
appointed a member of the commission charged to prepare a digest of the
criminal law, but retired on account of indisposition in the following
year. He died at his country residence, Doonholm in Ayrshire, on the 8th
of January 1896. He was the author of a valuable work on the _Law of
Sales_.

  See _The Times_, 10th of January 1896; E. Manson, _Builders of our
  Law_ (1904).




BLACKBURN, JONATHAN (c. 1700-c. 1765), American portrait painter, was
born in Connecticut. He seems to have been the son of a painter, and to
have had a studio in Boston in 1750-1765; among his patrons were many
important early American families, including the Apthorps, Amorys,
Bulfinches, Lowells, Ewings, Saltonstalls, Winthrops, Winslows and
Otises of Boston. Some of his portraits are in the possession of the
public library of Lexington, Massachusetts, and of the Massachusetts
Historical Society, but most of them are privately owned and are
scattered over the country, the majority being in Boston. John Singleton
Copley was his pupil, and it is said that he finally left his studio in
Boston, through jealousy of Copley's superior success. He was a good
portrait painter, and some of his pictures were long attributed to
Copley.




BLACKBURN, a municipal, county and parliamentary borough of Lancashire,
England, 210 m. N.W. by N. from London, and 24½ N.N.W. from Manchester,
served by the Lancashire & Yorkshire and the London & North Western
railways, with several lines from all parts of the county. Pop. (1891)
120,064; (1901) 127,626. It lies in the valley of a stream called in
early times the Blackeburn, but now known as the Brook. The hills in the
vicinity rise to some 900 ft., and among English manufacturing towns
Blackburn ranks high in beauty of situation. Besides numerous churches
and chapels the public buildings comprise a large town hall (1856),
market house, exchange, county court, municipal offices, chamber of
commerce, free library, and, outside the town, an infirmary. There are
an Elizabethan grammar school, in modern buildings (1884) and an
excellent technical school. The Corporation Park and Queen's Park are
well laid out, and contain ornamental waters. There is an efficient
tramway service, connecting the town with Darwen, 5 m. south. The cotton
industry employs thousands of operatives, the iron trade is also very
considerable, and many are engaged in the making of machines; but a
former woollen manufacture is almost extinct. Blackburn's speciality in
the cotton industry is weaving. Coal, lime and building stone are
abundant in the neighbourhood. Blackburn received a charter of
incorporation in 1851, and is governed by a mayor, 14 aldermen and 42
councillors. The county borough was created in 1888. The parliamentary
borough, which returns two members, is coextensive with the municipal,
and lies between the Accrington and Darwen divisions of the county.
Area, 7432 acres.

Blackburn is of considerable antiquity; indeed, the 6th century is
allocated to the original foundation of a church on the site of the
present parish church. Of another church on this site Cranmer was rector
after the Reformation. Blackburn was for some time the chief town of a
district called Blackburnshire, and as early as the reign of Elizabeth
ranked as a flourishing market town. About the middle of the 17th
century it became famous for its "checks," which were afterwards
superseded by a similar linen-and-cotton fabric known as "Blackburn
greys." In the 18th century the ability of certain natives of the town
greatly fostered its cotton industry; thus James Hargreaves here
probably invented his spinning jenny about 1764, though the operatives,
fearing a reduction of labour, would have none of it, and forced him to
quit the town for Nottingham. He was in the employment of Robert Peel,
grandfather of the prime minister of that name, who here instituted the
factory system, and as the director of a large business carefully
fostered the improvement of methods.

  See W.A. Abram, _History of Blackburn_ (Blackburn, 1897).




BLACKBURNE, FRANCIS (1782-1867), lord chancellor of Ireland, was born at
Great Footstown, Co. Meath, Ireland, on the 11th of November 1782.
Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, he was called to the English bar in
1805, and practised with great success on the home circuit. Called to
the Irish bar in 1822, he vigorously administered the Insurrection Act
in Limerick for two years, effectually restoring order in the district.
In 1826 he became a serjeant-at-law, and in 1830, and again, in 1841,
was attorney-general for Ireland. In 1842 he became master of the rolls
in Ireland, in 1846 chief-justice of the queen's bench, and in 1852 (and
again in 1866) lord chancellor of Ireland. In 1856 he was made a lord
justice of appeal in Ireland. He is remembered as having prosecuted
O'Connell and presided at the trial of Smith O'Brien. He died on the
17th of September 1867.




BLACKCOCK (_Tetrao tetrix_), the English name given to a bird of the
family _Tetraonidae_ or grouse, the female of which is known as the grey
hen and the young as poults. In size and plumage the two sexes offer a
striking contrast, the male weighing about 4 lb., its plumage for the
most part of a rich glossy black shot with blue and purple, the lateral
tail feathers curved outwards so as to form, when raised, a fan-like
crescent, and the eyebrows destitute of feathers and of a bright
vermilion red. The female, on the other hand, weighs only 2 lb., its
plumage is of a russet brown colour irregularly barred with black, and
its tail feathers are but slightly forked. The males are polygamous, and
during autumn and winter associate together, feeding in flocks apart
from the females; but with the approach of spring they separate, each
selecting a locality for itself, from which it drives off all intruders,
and where morning and evening it seeks to attract the other sex by a
display of its beautiful plumage, which at this season attains its
greatest perfection, and by a peculiar cry, which Selby describes as "a
crowing note, and another similar to the noise made by the whetting of a
scythe." The nest, composed of a few stalks of grass, is built on the
ground, usually beneath the shadow of a low bush or a tuft of tall
grass, and here the female lays from six to ten eggs of a dirty-yellow
colour speckled with dark brown. The blackcock then rejoins his male
associates, and the female is left to perform the labours of hatching
and rearing her young brood. The plumage of both sexes is at first like
that of the female, but after moulting the young males gradually assume
the more brilliant plumage of their sex. There are also many cases on
record, and specimens may be seen in the principal museums, of old
female birds assuming, to a greater or less extent, the plumage of the
male. The blackcock is very generally distributed over the highland
districts of northern and central Europe, and in some parts of Asia. It
is found on the principal heaths in the south of England, but is
specially abundant in the Highlands of Scotland.

[Illustration: Blackcock. ]




BLACK COUNTRY, THE, a name commonly applied to a district lying
principally in S. Staffordshire, but extending into Worcestershire and
Warwickshire, England. This is one of the chief manufacturing centres in
the United Kingdom, and the name arises from the effect of numerous
collieries and furnaces, which darken the face of the district, the
buildings and the atmosphere. Coal, ironstone and clay are mined in
close proximity, and every sort of iron and steel goods is produced. The
district extends 15 m. N.W. from Birmingham, and includes Smethwick,
West Bromwich, Dudley, Oldbury, Sedgley, Tipton, Bilston, Wednesbury,
Wolverhampton and Walsall as its most important centres. The ceaseless
activity of the Black Country is most readily realized when it is
traversed, or viewed from such an elevation as Dudley Castle Hill, at
night, when the glare of furnaces appears in every direction. The
district is served by numerous branches of the Great Western, London &
North Western, and Midland railways, and is intersected by canals, which
carry a heavy traffic, and in some places are made to surmount physical
obstacles with remarkable engineering skill, as in the case of the
Castle Hill tunnels at Dudley. Among the numerous branches of industry
there are several characteristic of certain individual centres. Thus,
locks are a specialty at Wolverhampton and Willenhall, and keys at
Wednesfield; horses' bits, harness-fittings and saddlery at Walsall and
Bloxwich, anchors and cables at Tipton, glass at Smethwick, and nails
and chains at Cradley.




BLACK DROP, in astronomy, an apparent distortion of the planet Mercury
or Venus at the time of internal contact with the limb of the sun at the
beginning or end of a transit. It has been in the past a source of much
perplexity to observers of transits, but is now understood to be a
result of irradiation, produced by the atmosphere or by the aberration
of the telescope.




BLACKFOOT (_Siksika_), a tribe and confederacy of North American Indians
of Algonquian stock. The name is explained as an allusion to their
leggings being observed by the whites to have become blackened by
marching over the freshly burned prairie. Their range was around the
headwaters of the Missouri, from the Yellowstone northward to the North
Saskatchewan and westward to the Rockies. The confederacy consisted of
three tribes, the Blackfoot or Siksika proper, the Kaina and the Piegan.
During the early years of the 19th century the Blackfoots were one of
the strongest Indian confederacies of the north-west, numbering some
40,000. At the beginning of the 20th century there were about 5000, some
in Montana and some in Canada.

  See Jean L'Heureux, _Customs and Religious Ideas of Blackfoot Indians
  in J.A.I._, vol. xv. (1886); G.B. Grinnell, _Blackfoot Lodge Tales_
  (1892); G. Catlin, _North American Indians_ (1876); _Handbook of
  American Indians_ (Washington, 1907), under "Siksika."




BLACK FOREST (Ger. _Schwarzwald_; the _Silva Marciana_ and _Abnoba_ of
the Romans), a mountainous district of south-west Germany, having an
area of 1844 sq. m., of which about two-thirds lie in the grand duchy of
Baden and the remaining third in the kingdom of Württemberg. Bounded on
the south and west by the valley of the Rhine, to which its declivities
abruptly descend, and running parallel to, and forming the counterpart
of the Vosges beyond, it slopes more gently down to the valley of the
Neckar in the north and to that of the Nagold (a tributary of the
Neckar) on the north-east. Its total length is 100 m., and its breadth
varies from 36 m. in the south to 21 in the centre and 13 in the north.
The deep valley of the Kinzig divides it laterally into halves, of which
the southern, with an average elevation of 3000 ft., is the wilder and
contains the loftiest peaks, which again mostly lie towards the western
side. Among them are the Feldberg (4898 ft.), the Herzogenhorn (4600),
the Blössling (4260) and the Blauen (3820). The northern half has an
average height of 2000 ft. On the east side are several lakes, and here
the majority of the streams take their rise. The configuration of the
hills is mainly conical and the geological formation consists of gneiss,
granite (in the south) and red sandstone. The district is poor in
minerals; the yield of silver and copper has almost ceased, but there
are workable coal seams near Offenburg, where the Kinzig debouches on
the plain. The climate in the higher districts is raw and the produce is
mostly confined to hardy cereals, such as oats. But the valleys,
especially those on the western side, are warm and healthy, enclose good
pasture land and furnish fruits and wine in rich profusion. They are
clothed up to a height of about 2000 ft. with luxuriant woods of oak and
beech, and above these again and up to an elevation of 4000 ft.,
surrounding the hills with a dense dark belt, are the forests of fir
which have given the name to the district. The summits of the highest
peaks are bare, but even on them snow seldom lies throughout the summer.

The Black Forest produces excellent timber, which is partly sawn in the
valleys and partly exported down the Rhine in logs. Among other
industries are the manufactures of watches, clocks, toys and musical
instruments. There are numerous mineral springs, and among the watering
places Baden-Baden and Wildbad are famous. The towns of Freiburg,
Rastatt, Offenburg and Lahr, which lie under the western declivities,
are the chief centres for the productions of the interior.

The Black Forest is a favourite tourist resort and is opened up by
numerous railways. In addition to the main lines in the valleys of the
Rhine and Neckar, which are connected with the towns lying on its
fringe, the district is intersected by the Schwarzwaldbahn from
Offenburg to Singen, from which various small local lines ramify.




BLACK HAWK [Ma'katawimesheka'ka, "Black Sparrow Hawk"], (1767-1838),
American Indian warrior of the Sauk and Fox tribes, was born at the Sauk
village on Rock river, near the Mississippi, in 1767. He was a member of
the Thunder gens of the Sauk tribe, and, though neither an hereditary
nor an elected chief, was for some time the recognized war leader of the
Sauk and Foxes. From his youth he was intensely bloodthirsty and hostile
to the Americans. Immediately after the acquisition of "Louisiana," the
Federal government took steps for the removal of the Sauk and Foxes, who
had always been a disturbing element among the north-western Indians, to
the west bank of the Mississippi river. As early as 1804, by a treaty
signed at St Louis on the 3rd of November, they agreed to the removal in
return for an annuity of $1000. British influences were still strong in
the upper Mississippi valley and undoubtedly led Black Hawk and the
chiefs of the Sauk and Fox confederacy to repudiate this agreement of
1804, and subsequently to enter into the conspiracy of Tecumseh and take
part with the British in the war of 1812. The treaties of 1815 at
Portage des Sioux (with the Foxes) and of 1816 at St Louis (with the
Sauk) substantially renewed that of 1804. That of 1816 was signed by
Black Hawk himself, who declared, however, when in 1823 Chief Keokuk and
a majority of the two nations crossed the river, that the consent of the
chiefs had been obtained by fraud. In 1830 a final treaty was signed at
Prairie du Chien, by which all title to the lands of the Sauk and Foxes
east of the Mississippi was ceded to the government, and provision was
made for the immediate opening of the tract to settlers. Black Hawk,
leading the party in opposition to Keokuk, at once refused to accede to
this cession and threatened to retaliate if his lands were invaded. This
precipitated what is known as the Black Hawk War. Settlers began pouring
into the new region in the early spring of 1831, and Black Hawk in June
attacked several villages near the Illinois-Wisconsin line. After
massacring several isolated families, he was driven off by a force of
Illinois militia. He renewed his attack in the following year (1832),
but after several minor engagements, in most of which he was successful,
he was defeated (21st of July) at Wisconsin Heights on the Wisconsin
river, opposite Prairie du Sac, by Michigan volunteers under Colonels
Henry Dodge and James D. Henry, and fleeing westward was again
decisively defeated on the Mississippi at the mouth of the Bad Axe river
(on the 1st and 2nd of August) by General Henry Atkinson. His band was
completely dispersed, and he himself was captured by a party of
Winnebagoes. At Fort Armstrong, Rock Island, on the 21st of September, a
treaty was signed, by which a large tract of the Sauk and Fox territory
was ceded to the United States; and the United States granted to them a
reservation of 400 sq. m., the payment of $20,000 a year for thirty
years, and the settlement of certain traders' claims against the tribe.
With several warriors Black Hawk was sent to Fortress Monroe, Virginia,
where he was confined for a few weeks; afterwards he was taken by the
government through the principal Eastern cities. On his release he
settled in 1837 on the Sauk and Fox reservation on the Des Moines river,
in Iowa, where he died on the 3rd of October 1838.

  See Frank E. Stevens, _The Black Hawk War_ (Chicago, 1903); R.G.
  Thwaites, "The Story of the Black Hawk War" in vol. xii. of the
  _Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin_; J.B.
  Patterson, _Life of Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak or Black Hawk_ (Boston,
  1834), purporting to be Black Hawk's story as told by himself; and
  Benjamin Drake, _Life of Black Hawk_ (Cincinnati, 1846).




BLACKHEATH, an open common in the south-east of London, England, mainly
in the metropolitan borough of Lewisham. This high-lying tract was
crossed by the Roman Watling Street from Kent, on a line approximating
to that of the modern Shooter's Hill; and was a rallying ground of Wat
Tyler (1381), of Jack Cade (1450), and of Audley, leader of the Cornish
rebels, defeated and captured here by the troops of Henry VII. in 1497.
It also witnessed the acclamations of the citizens of London on the
return of Henry V. from the victory of Agincourt, the formal meeting
between Henry VIII. and Anne of Cleves, and that between the army of
the restoration and Charles II. The introduction into England of the
game of golf is traditionally placed here in 1608, and attributed to
King James I. and his Scottish followers. The common, the area of which
is 267 acres, is still used for this and other pastimes. For the
residential district to which Blackheath gives name, see LEWISHAM.




BLACK HILLS, an isolated group of mountains, covering an area of about
6000 sq. m. in the adjoining corners of South Dakota and Wyoming, U.S.A.
They rise on an average some 2000 ft. above their base, the highest
peak, Harney, having an altitude above the sea of 7216 ft. They are
drained and in large part enclosed by the North (or Belle Fourche) and
South forks of the Cheyenne river (at whose junction a fur-trading post
was established about 1830); and are surrounded by semi-arid, alkaline
plains lying 3000 to 3500 ft. above the sea. The mass has an elliptical
shape, its long axis, which extends nearly N.N.W.-S.S.E., being about
120 m. and its shorter axis about 40 m. long. The hills are formed by a
short, broad, anticlinal fold, which is flat or nearly so on its summit.
From this fold the stratified beds have in large part been removed, the
more recent having been almost entirely eroded from the elevated mass.
The edges of these are now found encircling the mountains and forming a
series of fairly continuous rims of hog-backs. The carboniferous and
older stratified beds still cover the west half of the hills, while from
the east half they have been removed, exposing the granite. Scientific
exploration began in 1849, and systematic geological investigation about
1875. Rich gold placers had already been discovered, and in 1875 the
Sioux Indians within whose territory the hills had until then been
included, were removed, and the lands were open to white settlers.
Subsequently low-grade quartz mines were found and developed, and have
furnished a notable part of the gold supply of the country (about
$100,000,000 from 1875 to 1901). The output is to-day relatively small
in comparison with that of many other fields, but there are one or two
permanent gold mines of great value working low-grade ore. The silver
product from 1879 to 1901 was about $4,154,000. Deposits of copper, tin,
iron and tungsten have been discovered, and a variety of other mineral
products (graphite, mica, spodumene, coal, petroleum, &c.). In sharp
contrast to the surrounding plains the climate is subhumid, especially
in the higher Harney region. There is an abundance of fertile soil and
magnificent grazing land. A third of the total area is covered with
forests of pine and other trees, which have for the most part been made
a forest-reserve by the national government. Jagged crags, sudden
abysses, magnificent canyons, forests with open parks, undulating hills,
mountain prairies, freaks of weathering and erosion, and the enclosing
lines of the successive hog-backs afford scenery of remarkable variety
and wild beauty. There are several interesting limestone caverns, and
Sylvan Lake, in the high mountain district, is an important resort.

  See the publications of the United States Geological Survey
  (especially Professional Paper No. 26, _Economic Resources of the
  Northern Black Hills_, 1904), and of the South Dakota School of Mines
  (Bulletin No. 4, containing a history and bibliography of Black Hills
  investigations); also R.L. Dodge, _The Black Hills: A Minute
  Description_ ... (New York, 1876).




BLACKIE, JOHN STUART (1809-1895), Scottish scholar and man of letters,
was born in Glasgow on the 28th of July 1809. He was educated at the New
Academy and afterwards at the Marischal College, in Aberdeen, where his
father was manager of the Commerical Bank. After attending classes at
Edinburgh University (1825-1826), Blackie spent three years at Aberdeen
as a student of theology. In 1829 he went to Germany, and after studying
at Göttingen and Berlin (where he came under the influence of Heeren,
Ottfried Müller, Schleiermacher, Neander and Böckh) he accompanied
Bunsen to Italy and Rome. The years spent abroad extinguished his former
wish to enter the Church, and at his father's desire he gave himself up
to the study of law. He had already, in 1824, been placed in a lawyer's
office, but only remained there six months. By the time he was admitted
a member of the Faculty of Advocates (1834) he had acquired a strong
love of the classics and a taste for letters in general. A translation
of _Faust_, which he published in 1834, met with considerable success.
After a year or two of desultory literary work he was (May 1839)
appointed to the newly-instituted chair of Humanity (Latin) in the
Marischal College.

Difficulties arose in the way of his installation, owing to the action
of the Presbytery on his refusing to sign unreservedly the Confession of
Faith; but these were eventually overcome, and he took up his duties as
professor in November 1841. In the following year he married. From the
first his professorial lectures were conspicuous for the unconventional
enthusiasm with which he endeavoured to revivify the study of the
classics; and his growing reputation, added to the attention excited by
a translation of Aeschylus which he published in 1850, led to his
appointment in 1852 to the professorship of Greek at Edinburgh
University, in succession to George Dunbar, a post which he continued to
hold for thirty years. He was somewhat erratic in his methods, but his
lectures were a triumph of influential personality. A journey to Greece
in 1853 prompted his essay _On the Living Language of the Greeks_, a
favourite theme of his, especially in his later years; he adopted for
himself a modern Greek pronunciation, and before his death he endowed a
travelling scholarship to enable students to learn Greek at Athens.
Scottish nationality was another source of enthusiasm with him; and in
this connexion he displayed real sympathy with Highland home life and
the grievances of the crofters. The foundation of the Celtic chair at
Edinburgh University was mainly due to his efforts. In spite of the many
calls upon his time he produced a considerable amount of literary work,
usually on classical or Scottish subjects, including some poems and
songs of no mean order. He died in Edinburgh on the 2nd of March 1895.
Blackie was a Radical and Scottish nationalist in politics, but of a
fearlessly independent type; he was one of the "characters" of the
Edinburgh of the day, and was a well-known figure as he went about in
his plaid, worn shepherd-wise, wearing a broad-brimmed hat, and carrying
a big stick. His published works include (besides several volumes of
verse) _Homer and the Iliad_ (1866), maintaining the unity of the poems;
_Four Phases of Morals: Socrates, Aristotle, Christianity,
Utilitarianism_ (1871); _Essay on Self-Culture_ (1874); _Horae
Hellenicae_ (1874); _The Language and Literature of the Scottish
Highlands_ (1876); _The Natural History of Atheism_ (1877); _The Wise
Men of Greece_ (1877); _Lay Sermons_ (1881); _Altavona_ (1882); _The
Wisdom of Goethe_ (1883); _The Scottish Highlanders and the Land Laws_
(1885); _Life of Burns_ (1888); _Scottish Song_ (1889); _Essays on
Subjects of Moral and Social Interest_ (1890); _Christianity and the
Ideal of Humanity_ (1893). Amongst his political writings may be
mentioned a pamphlet _On Democracy_ (1867), _On Forms of Government_
(1867), and _Political Tracts_ (1868).

  See Anna M. Stoddart, _John Stuart Blackie_ (1895); A. Stodart-Walker,
  _Selected Poems of J.S. Blackie_, with an appreciation (1896); Howard
  Angus Kennedy, _Professor Blackie_ (1895).




BLACK ISLE, THE, a district in the east of the county of Ross and
Cromarty, Scotland, bounded N. by Cromarty Firth, E. by Moray Firth, S.
by Inner Moray Firth (or Firth of Inverness) and Beauly Firth, and W. by
the river Conon and the parish of Urray. It is a diamond-shaped
peninsula jutting out from the mainland in a north-easterly direction,
the longer axis, from Muir of Ord station to the South Sutor at the
entrance to Cromarty Firth, measuring 20 m., and the shorter, from
Ferryton Point to Craigton-Point, due north and south, 12 m., and it has
a coastline of 52 m. Originally called Ardmeanach (Gaelic _ard_, height;
_manaich_, monk, "the monk's height," from an old religious house on the
finely-wooded ridge of Mulbuie), it derived its customary name from the
fact that, since snow does not lie in winter, the promontory looks black
while the surrounding country is white. Within its limits are comprised
the parishes of Urquhart and Logie Wester, Killearnan, Knockbain (Gaelic
_cnoc_, hill; _bàn_, white), Avoch (pron. Auch), Rosemarkie, Resolis
(Gaelic _rudha_ or _ros soluis_, "cape of the light") or Kirkmichael and
Cromarty. The Black Isle branch of the Highland railway runs from Muir
of Ord to Fortrose; steamers connect Cromarty with Invergordon and
Inverness, and Fortrose with Inverness; and there are ferries, on the
southern coast, at North Kessock (for Inverness) and Chanonry (for Fort
George), and, on the northern coast, at Alcaig (for Dingwall),
Newhallpoint (for Invergordon), and Cromarty (for Nigg). The principal
towns are Cromarty and Fortrose. Rosehaugh, near Avoch, belonged to Sir
George Mackenzie, founder of the Advocates' library in Edinburgh, who
earned the sobriquet of "Bloody" from his persecution of the
Covenanters. Redcastle, on the shore, near Killearnan church, dates from
1179 and is said to have been the earliest inhabited house in the north
of Scotland. On the forfeiture of the earldom of Ross it became a royal
castle (being visited by Queen Mary), and afterwards passed for a period
into the hands of the Mackenzies of Gairloch. The chief industries are
agriculture--high farming flourishes owing to the great fertility of the
peninsula--sandstone-quarrying and fisheries (mainly from Avoch). The
whole district, though lacking water, is picturesque and was once
forested. The Mulbuie ridge, the highest point of which is 838 ft. above
the sea, occupies the centre and is the only elevated ground.
Antiquarian remains are somewhat numerous, such as forts and cairns in
Cromarty parish, and stone circles in Urquhart and Logie Wester and
Knockbain parishes, the latter also containing a hut circle and rock
fortress.




BLACKLOCK, THOMAS (1721-1791), Scottish poet, the son of a bricklayer,
was born at Annan, in Dumfriesshire, in 1721. When not quite six months
old he lost his sight by smallpox, and his career is largely interesting
as that of one who achieved what he did in spite of blindness. Shortly
after his father's death in 1740, some of Blacklock's poems began to be
handed about among his acquaintances and friends, who arranged for his
education at the grammar-school, and subsequently at the university of
Edinburgh, where he was a student of divinity. His first volume of Poems
was published in 1746. In 1754 he became deputy librarian for the
Faculty of Advocates, by the kindness of Hume. He was eventually
estranged from Hume, and defended James Beattie's attack on that
philosopher. Blacklock was among the first friends of Burns in
Edinburgh, being one of the earliest to recognize his genius. He was in
1762 ordained minister of the church of Kirkcudbright, a position which
he soon resigned; in 1767 the degree of doctor in divinity was conferred
on him by Marischal College, Aberdeen. He died on the 7th of July 1791.

  An edition of his poems in 1793 contains a life by Henry Mackenzie.




BLACKMAIL, a term, in English law, used in three special meanings, at
different times. The usual derivation of the second half of the word is
from Norman Fr. _maille (medalia_; cf. "medal"), small copper coin; the
_New English Dictionary_ derives from "mail" (q.v.), meaning rent or
tribute. (1) The primary meaning of "blackmail" was rent paid in labour,
grain or baser metal (i.e. money other than sterling money), called
_reditus nigri_, in contradistinction to rent paid in silver or white
money (_mailles blanches_). (2) In the northern counties of England
(Northumberland, Westmorland and the bishopric of Durham) it signified a
tribute in money, corn, cattle or other consideration exacted from
farmers and small owners by freebooters in return for immunity from
robbers or moss-troopers. By a statute of 1601 it was made a felony
without benefit of clergy to receive or pay such tribute, but the
practice lingered until the union of England and Scotland in 1707. (3)
The word now signifies extortion of money or property by threats of
libel, presecution, exposure, &c. See such headings as COERCION,
CONSPIRACY, EXTORTION, and authorities quoted under CRIMINAL LAW.




BLACKMORE, SIR RICHARD (c. 1650-1729), English physician and writer, was
born at Corsham, in Wiltshire, about 1650. He was educated at
Westminster school and St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He was for some time a
schoolmaster, but finally, after graduating in medicine at Padua, he
settled in practice as a physician in London. He supported the
principles of the Revolution, and was accordingly knighted in 1697. He
held the office of physician in ordinary both to William III. and Anne,
and died on the 9th of October 1729. Blackmore had a passion for
writing epics. _Prince Arthur, an Heroick Poem in X Books_ appeared in
1695, and was followed by six other long poems before 1723. Of these
_Creation_ ... (1712), a philosophic poem intended to refute the atheism
of Vanini, Hobbes and Spinoza, and to unfold the intellectual philosophy
of Locke, was the most favourably received. Dr Johnson anticipated that
this poem would transmit the author to posterity "among the first
favourites of the English muse," while John Dennis went so far as to
describe it as "a philosophical poem, which has equalled that of
Lucretius in the beauty of its versification, and infinitely surpassed
it in the solidity and strength of its reasoning." These opinions have
not been justified, for the poem, like everything else that Blackmore
wrote, is dull and tedious. His _Creation_ appears in Johnson's and
Anderson's collections of the British poets. He left also works on
medicine and on theological subjects.




BLACKMORE, RICHARD DODDRIDGE (1825-1900), English novelist, was born on
the 7th of June 1825 at Longworth, Berkshire, of which village his
father was curate in charge. He was educated at Blundell's school,
Tiverton, and Exeter College, Oxford, where he obtained a scholarship.
In 1847 he took a second class in classics. Two years later he entered
as a student at the Middle Temple, and was called to the bar in 1852.
His first publication was a volume of _Poems by Melanter_ (1854), which
showed no particular promise, nor did the succeeding volume, _Epullia_
(1855), suggest that Blackmore had the makings of a poet. He was
nevertheless enthusiastic in his pursuit of literature; and when, a few
years later, the complete breakdown of his health rendered it clear that
he must remove from London, he determined to combine a literary life in
the country with a business career as a market-gardener. He acquired
land at Teddington, and set earnestly to work, the literary fruits of
his new surroundings being a translation of the _Georgics_, published in
1862. In 1864 he published his first novel, _Clara Vaughan_, the merits
of which were promptly recognized. _Cradock Nowell_ (1866) followed, but
it was in 1869 that he suddenly sprang into fame with _Lorna Doone_.
This fine story was a pioneer in the romantic revival; and appearing at
a jaded hour, it was presently recognized as a work of singular charm,
vigour and imagination. Its success could scarcely be repeated, and
though Blackmore wrote many other capital stories, of which the best
known are _The Maid of Sker_ (1872), _Christowell_ (1880), _Perlycross_
(1894), _Tales from the Telling House_ (1896) and _Dariel_ (1897), he
will always be remembered almost exclusively as the author of _Lorna
Doone_. He continued his quiet country life to the last, and died at
Teddington on the 20th of January 1900, in his seventy-fifth year.
_Lorna Doone_ has the true out-of-door atmosphere, is shot through and
through with adventurous spirit, and in its dramatic moments shows both
vigour and intensity. The heroine, though she is invested with qualities
of faëry which are scarcely human, is an idyllic and haunting figure;
and John Ridd, the bluff hero, is, both in purpose and achievement, a
veritable giant of romance. The story is a classic of the West country,
and the many pilgrimages that are made annually to the Doone Valley (the
actual characteristics of which differ materially from the descriptions
given in the novel) are entirely inspired by the buoyant imagination of
Richard Blackmore. A memorial window and tablet to his memory were
erected in Exeter cathedral in 1904.




BLACK MOUNTAIN, a mountain range and district on the Hazara border of
the North-West Frontier Province of India. It is inhabited by Yusafzai
Pathans. The Black Mountain itself has a total length of 25 to 30 m.,
and an average height of 8000 ft. above the sea. It rises from the Indus
basin near the village of Kiara, up to its watershed by Bruddur; thence
it runs north-west by north to the point on the crest known as
Chittabut. From Chittabut the range runs due north, finally descending
by two large spurs to the Indus again. The tribes which inhabit the
western face of the Black Mountain are the Hassanzais (2300 fighting
men), the Akazais (1165 fighting men) and the Chagarzais (4890 fighting
men), all sub-sections of the Yusafzai Pathans. It was in this district
that the Hindostani Fanatics had their stronghold, and they were
responsible for much of the unrest on this part of the border.

The Black Mountain is chiefly notable for four British expeditions:--

1. Under Lieut.-Colonel F. Mackeson, in 1852-53, against the Hassanzais.
The occasion was the murder of two British customs officers. A force of
3800 British troops traversed their country, destroying their villages
and grain, &c.

2. Under Major-General A.T. Wilde, in 1868. The occasion was an attack
on a British police post at Oghi in the Agror Valley by all three
tribes. A force of 12,500 British troops entered the country and the
tribes made submission.

3. The First Hazara Expedition in 1888. The cause was the constant raids
made by the tribes on villages in British territory, culminating in an
attack on a small British detachment, in which two English officers were
killed. A force of 12,500 British troops traversed the country of the
tribes, and severely punished them. Punishment was also inflicted on the
Hindostani Fanatics of Palosi.

4. The Second Hazara Expedition of 1891. The Black Mountain tribes fired
on a force within British limits. A force of 7300 British troops
traversed the country. The tribesmen made their submission and entered
into an agreement with government to preserve the peace of the border.

The Black Mountain tribes took no part in the general frontier rising of
1897, and after the disappearance of the Hindostani Fanatics they sank
into comparative unimportance.




BLACKPOOL, a municipal and county borough and seaside resort in the
Blackpool parliamentary division of Lancashire, England, 46 m. N. of
Liverpool, served by the Lancashire & Yorkshire, and London & North
Western railways. Pop. (1891) 23,846; (1901) 47,346. The town, which is
quite modern, contains many churches and chapels of all denominations, a
town hall, public libraries, the Victoria hospital, three piers,
theatres, ball-rooms, and other places of public amusement, including a
lofty tower, resembling the Eiffel Tower of Paris. The municipality
maintains an electric tram service. There are handsome promenades along
the sea front, which command fine views. Extensive works upon these,
affording a sea front unsurpassed by that of any English watering-place,
were completed in 1905. The beach is sandy and the bathing good. The
borough was created in 1876 (county borough, 1904), and is governed by a
mayor, 12 aldermen and 36 councillors. Area, exclusive of foreshore,
3496 acres; including foreshore, 4244 acres.




BLACK ROD (more fully, "Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod "), an official
of the House of Lords, instituted in 1350. His appointment is by royal
letters patent, and his title is due to his staff of office, an ebony
stick surmounted with a gold lion. He is a personal attendant of the
sovereign in the Upper House, and is also usher of the order of the
Garter, being doorkeeper at the meetings of the knights' chapter. He is
responsible for the maintenance of order in the House of Lords, and on
him falls the duty of arresting any peer guilty of breach of privilege
or other offence of which the House takes cognizance. But the duty which
brings him most into prominence is that of summoning the Commons and
their speaker to the Upper House to hear a speech from the throne or the
royal assent given to bills. If the sovereign is present in parliament,
Black Rod _commands_ the attendance of the gentlemen of the Commons, but
when lords commissioners represent the king, he only _desires_ such
attendance. Black Rod is on such occasions the central figure of a
curious ceremony of much historic significance. As soon as the
attendants of the House of Commons are aware of his approach, they close
the doors in his face. Black Rod then strikes three times with his
staff, and on being asked "Who is there?" replies "Black Rod." Being
then admitted he advances to the bar of the House, makes three
obeisances and says, "Mr Speaker, the king commands this honourable
House to attend his majesty immediately in the House of Lords." This
formality originated in the famous attempt of Charles I. to arrest the
five members, Hampden, Pym, Holies, Hesilrige and Strode, in 1642.
Indignant at this breach of privilege, the House of Commons has ever
since maintained its right of freedom of speech and uninterrupted debate
by the closing of the doors on the king's representative.




BLACK SEA (or EUXINE; anc. _Pontus Euxinus_),[1] a body of water lying
almost entirely between the latitudes 41º and 45º N., but extending to
about 47º N. near Odessa. It is bounded N. by the southern coast of
Russia; W. by Rumania, Turkey and Bulgaria; S. and E. by Asia Minor. The
northern boundary is broken at Kertch by a strait entering into the Sea
of Azov, and at the junction of the western and southern boundary is the
Bosporus, which unites the Black Sea with the Mediterranean through the
Sea of Marmora and the Dardanelles. The 100-fathom line is about 10 to
20 m. from the shore except in the north-west corner between Varna and
Sevastopol, where it extends 140 m. seawards. The greatest depth is 1030
fathoms (1227 Russian fathoms) near the centre, there being only one
basin. The steepest incline outside 100 fathoms is to the south-east of
the Crimea and at Amastra; the incline to the greater depths is also
steep off the Caucasus and between Trebizond and Batum. The conditions
that prevail in the Black Sea are very different from those of the
Mediterranean or any other sea. The existence of sulphuretted hydrogen
in great quantities below 100 fathoms, the extensive chemical
precipitation of calcium carbonate, the stagnant nature of its deep
waters, and the absence of deep-sea life are conditions which make it
impossible to discuss it along with the physical and biological
conditions of the Mediterranean proper.

The depths of the Black Sea are lifeless, higher organic life not being
known to exist below 100 fathoms. Fossiliferous remains of _Dreissena_,
_Cardium_ and other molluscs have, however, been dredged up, which help
to show that conditions formerly existed in the Black Sea similar to
those that exist at the present day in the Caspian Sea. According to N.
Andrusov, when the union of the Black Sea with the Mediterranean through
the Bosporus took place, salt water rushed into it along the bottom of
the Bosporus and killed the fauna of the less saline waters. This gave
rise to a production of sulphuretted hydrogen which is found in the
deposits, as well as in the deeper waters.

Observations in temperature and salinity have only been taken during
summer. During summer the surface salinity of the Black Sea is from 1.70
to 2.00% down to 50 fathoms, whereas in the greater depths it attains a
salinity of 2.25%. The temperature is rather remarkable, there being an
intermediate cold layer between 25 and 50 fathoms. This is due to the
sinking of the cold surface water (which in winter reaches
freezing-point) on to the top of the denser more saline water of the
greater depths. There is thus a minimum circulation in the greater
depths causing there uniformity of temperature, an absence of the
circulation of oxygen by other means than diffusion, and a protection of
the sulphuretted hydrogen from the oxidation which takes place in
homologous situations in the open ocean. The temperature down to 25
fathoms is from 78.3º to 46.2º F., and in the cold layer, between 25 and
50 fathoms, is from 46.2º to 43.5º F., rising again in greater depths to
48.2º F.

The _Sea of Marmora_ may be looked upon as an arm of the Aegean Sea and
thus part of the Mediterranean proper. Its salinity is comparable to
that of the eastern basin of the Mediterranean, which is greater than
that of the Black Sea, viz. 4%. Similar currents exist in the Bosporus
to those of the Strait of Gibraltar. Water of less salinity flows
outwards from the Black Sea as an upper current, and water of greater
salinity from the Sea of Marmora flows into the Black Sea as an
under-current. This under-current flows towards Cape Tarhangut, where it
divides into a left and right branch. The left branch is appreciably
noticed near Odessa and the north-west corner; the right branch sweeps
past the Crimea, strikes the Caucasian shore (where it comes to the
surface running across, but not into, the south-east corner of the Black
Sea), and finally disperses flowing westwards along the northern coast
of Asia Minor between Cape Jason and Sinope. This current causes a
warmer climate where it strikes. So marked is this current that it has
to be taken into account in the navigation of the Black Sea.

The _Sea of Azov_ is exceedingly shallow, being only about 6 fathoms in
its deepest part, and it is largely influenced by the river Don. Its
water is considerably fresher than the Black Sea, varying from 1.55 to
0.68%. It freezes more readily and is not affected by the Mediterranean
current.

  See N. Andrusov, "Physical Exploration of the Black Sea," in
  _Geographical Journal_, vol. i. p. 49.


FOOTNOTE:

  [1] The early Greek navigators gave it the epithet of _axenus_, i.e.
    unfriendly to strangers, but as Greek colonies sprang up on the
    shores this was changed to _euxinus_, friendly to strangers.




BLACK SEA (Russ. _Chernomorskaya_), a military district of the province of
Kuban, formerly an independent province of Transcaucasia, Russia; it
includes the narrow strip of land along the N.E. coast of the Black Sea
from Novorossiysk to the vicinity of Pitsunda, between the sea and the
crest of the main range of the Caucasus. Area, 2836 sq. m. Pop. (1897)
54,228; (1906, estimate) 71,900. It is penetrated by numerous spurs of
this range, which strike the sea abruptly at right angles to the coast,
and in many cases plunge down into it sheer. Owing to its southern
exposure, its sheltered position, and a copious rainfall, vegetation, in
part of a sub-tropical character, grows in great profusion. In
consequence, however, of the mountainous character of the region, it is
divided into a large number of more or less isolated districts, and there
is little intercourse with the country north of the Caucasus, the passes
over the range being few and difficult (see CAUCASUS). But since the
Russians became masters of this region, its former inhabitants (Circassian
tribes) have emigrated in thousands, so that the country is now only
thinly inhabited. It is divided into three districts--Novorossiysk, with
the town (pop. in 1897, 16,208) of the same name, which acts as the
capital of the Black Sea district; Velyaminovsk; and Sochi. Novorossiysk
is connected by rail, at the west end of the Caucasus, with the
Rostov-Vladikavkaz line, and a mountain road leads from Velyaminovsk (or
Tuapse) to Maikop in the province of Kuban.




BLACKSTONE, SIR WILLIAM (1723-1780), English jurist, was born in London,
on the 10th of July 1723. His parents having died when he was young, his
early education, under the care of his uncle, Dr Thomas Bigg, was
obtained at the Charterhouse, from which, at the age of fifteen, he was
sent to Pembroke College, Oxford. He was entered in the Middle Temple in
1741. In 1744 he was elected a fellow of All Souls' College. From this
period he divided his time between the university and the Temple, where
he took chambers in order to attend the law courts. In 1746 he was
called to the bar. Though but little known or distinguished as a
pleader, he was actively employed, during his occasional residences at
the university, in taking part in the internal management of his
college. In May 1749, as a small reward for his services, and to give
him further opportunities of advancing the interests of the college,
Blackstone was appointed steward of its manors. In the same year, on the
resignation of his uncle, Seymour Richmond, he was elected recorder of
the borough of Wallingford in Berkshire. In 1750 he became doctor of
civil law. In 1753 he decided to retire from London work to his
fellowship and an academical life, still continuing the practice of his
profession as a provincial counsel.

His lectures on the laws of England appear to have been an early and
favourite idea; for in the Michaelmas term immediately after he
abandoned London, he entered on the duty of reading them at Oxford; and
we are told by the author of his _Life_, that even at their
commencement, the high expectations formed from the acknowledged
abilities of the lecturer attracted to these lectures a very crowded
class of young men of the first families, characters and hopes. Bentham,
however, declares that he was a "formal, precise and affected
lecturer--just what you would expect from the character of his
writings--cold, reserved and wary, exhibiting a frigid pride." It was
not till the year 1758 that the lectures in the form they now bear were
read in the university. Blackstone, having been unanimously elected to
the newly-founded Vinerian professorship, on the 25th of October read
his first introductory lecture, afterwards prefixed to the first volume
of his celebrated _Commentaries_. It is doubtful whether the
_Commentaries_ were originally intended for the press; but many
imperfect and incorrect copies having got into circulation, and a
pirated edition of them being either published or preparing for
publication in Ireland, the author thought proper to print a correct
edition himself, and in November 1765 published the first volume, under
the title of _Commentaries on the Laws of England_. The remaining parts
of the work were given to the world in the course of the four succeeding
years. It may be remarked that before this period the reputation which
his lectures had deservedly acquired for him had induced him to resume
practice in London; and, contrary to the general order of the
profession, he who had quitted the bar for an academic life was sent
back from the college to the bar with a considerable increase of
business. He was likewise elected to parliament, first for Hindon, and
afterwards for Westbury in Wilts; but in neither of these departments
did he equal the expectations which his writings had raised. The part he
took in the Middlesex election drew upon him many attacks as well as a
severe animadversion from the caustic pen of "Junius." This circumstance
probably strengthened the aversion he professed to parliamentary
attendance, "where," he said, "amidst the rage of contending parties, a
man of moderation must expect to meet with no quarter from any side." In
1770 he declined the place of solicitor-general; but shortly afterwards,
on the promotion of Sir Joseph Yates to a seat in the court of common
pleas, he accepted a seat on the bench, and on the death of Sir Joseph
succeeded him there also. He died on the 14th of February 1780.

The design of the _Commentaries_ is exhibited in his first Vinerian
lecture printed in the introduction to them. The author there dwells on
the importance of noblemen, gentlemen and educated persons generally
being well acquainted with the laws of the country; and his treatise,
accordingly, is as far as possible a popular exposition of the laws of
England. Falling into the common error of identifying the various
meanings of the word law, he advances from the law of nature (being
either the revealed or the inferred will of God) to municipal law, which
he defines to be a rule of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power
in a state commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong. On
this definition he founds the division observed in the _Commentaries_.
The objects of law are rights and wrongs. Rights are either rights of
persons or rights of things. Wrongs are either public or private. These
four headings form respectively the subjects of the four books of the
_Commentaries_.

Blackstone was by no means what would now be called a scientific jurist.
He has only the vaguest possible grasp of the elementary conceptions of
law. He evidently regards the law of gravitation, the law of nature, and
the law of England, as different examples of the same principle--as
rules of action or conduct imposed by a superior power on its subjects.
He propounds in terms the doctrine that municipal or positive laws
derive their validity from their conformity to the so-called law of
nature or law of God. "No human laws," he says, "are of any validity if
contrary to this." His distinction between rights of persons and rights
of things, implying, as it would appear, that things as well as persons
have rights, is attributable to a misunderstanding of the technical
terms of the Roman law. In distinguishing between private and public
wrongs (civil injuries and crimes) he fails to seize the true principle
of the division. Austin, who accused him of following slavishly the
method of Hale's _Analysis of the Law_, declares that he "blindly adopts
the mistakes of his rude and compendious model; missing invariably, with
a nice and surprising infelicity, the pregnant but obscure suggestions
which it proffered to his attention, and which would have guided a
discerning and inventive writer to an arrangement comparatively just."
By the want of precise and closely-defined terms, and his tendency to
substitute loose literary phrases, he falls occasionally into
irreconcilable contradictions. Even in discussing a subject of such
immense importance as equity, he hardly takes pains to discriminate
between the legal and popular senses of the word, and, from the small
place which equity jurisprudence occupies in his arrangement, he would
scarcely seem to have realized its true position in the law of England.
Subject, however, to these strictures the completeness of the treatise,
its serviceable if not scientific order, and the power of lucid
exposition possessed by the author demand emphatic recognition.
Blackstone's defects as a jurist are more conspicuous in his treatment
of the underlying principles and fundamental divisions of the law than
in his account of its substantive principles.

Blackstone by no means confines himself to the work of a legal
commentator. It is his business, especially when he touches on the
framework of society, to find a basis in history and reason for all the
most characteristic English institutions. There is not much either of
philosophy or fairness in this part of his work. Whether through the
natural conservatism of a lawyer, or through his own timidity and
subserviency as a man and a politician, he is always found to be a
specious defender of the existing order of things. Bentham accuses him
of being the enemy of all reform, and the unscrupulous champion of every
form of professional chicanery. Austin says that he truckled to the
sinister interests and mischievous prejudices of power, and that he
flattered the overweening conceit of the English in their own
institutions. He displays much ingenuity in giving a plausible form to
common prejudices and fallacies; but it is by no means clear that he was
not imposed upon himself. More undeniable than the political fairness of
the treatise is its merits as a work of literature. It is written in a
most graceful and attractive style, and although no opportunity of
embellishment has been lost, the language is always simple and clear.
Whether it is owing to its literary graces, or to its success in
flattering the prejudices of the public to which it was addressed, the
influence of the book in England has been extraordinary. Not lawyers
only, and lawyers perhaps even less than others, accepted it as an
authoritative revelation of the law. It performed for educated society
in England much the same service as was rendered to the people of Rome
by the publication of their previously unknown laws. It is more correct
to regard it as a handbook of the law for laymen than as a legal
treatise; and as the first and only book of the kind in England it has
been received with somewhat indiscriminating reverence. It is certain
that a vast amount of the constitutional sentiment of the country has
been inspired by its pages. To this day Blackstone's criticism of the
English constitution would probably express the most profound political
convictions of the majority of the English people. Long after it has
ceased to be of much practical value as an authority in the courts, it
remains the arbiter of all public discussions on the law or the
constitution. On such occasions the _Commentaries_ are apt to be
construed as strictly as if they were a code. It is curious to observe
how much importance is attached to the _ipsissima verba_ of a writer who
aimed more at presenting a picture intelligible to laymen than at
recording the principles of the law with technical accuracy of detail.

  See also the article ENGLISH LAW.




BLACK VEIL, in the Roman Catholic Church, the symbol of the most
complete renunciation of the world and adoption of a nun's life. On the
appointed day the nun goes through all the ritual of the marriage
ceremony, after a solemn mass at which all the inmates of the convent
assist. She is dressed in bridal white with wreath and veil, and
receives a wedding-ring, as spouse of the Church. Afterwards she
presides at a wedding-breakfast, at which a bride-cake is cut. She thus
bids adieu to all her friends, and having previously taken the white
veil, the betrothal, she now assumes the black, and for ever forswears
the world and its pleasures. Her hair is cut short, and her bridal robes
are exchanged for the sombre religious habit. Her wedding-ring, however,
she continues to wear, and it is buried with her.




BLACKWATER, the name of a number of rivers and streams in England,
Scotland and Ireland. The Blackwater in Essex, which rises near Saffron
Walden, has a course of about 40 m. to the North Sea. The most important
river of the name is in southern Ireland, rising in the hills on the
borders of the counties Cork and Kerry, and flowing nearly due east for
the greater part of its course, as far as Cappoquin, where it turns
abruptly southward, and discharges through an estuary into Youghal Bay.
The length of its valley (excluding the lesser windings of the river)
is about 90 m., and the drainage area about 1300 sq. m. It is navigable
only for a few miles above the mouth, but its salmon fisheries are both
attractive to sportsmen and of considerable commercial value. The
scenery of its banks is at many points very beautiful.




BLACKWATER FEVER, a disease occurring in tropical countries and
elsewhere, which is often classed with malaria (q.v.). It is
characterized by irregular febrile paroxysms, accompanied by rigors,
bilious vomiting, jaundice and haemoglobinuria (Sambon). It has a wide
geographical distribution, including tropical Africa, parts of Asia, the
West Indies, the southern United States, and--in Europe--Greece, Sicily
and Sardinia; but its range is not coextensive with malaria. Malarial
parasites have occasionally been found in the blood. Some authorities
believe it to be caused by the excessive use of quinine, taken to combat
malaria. This theory has had the support of Koch, but it is not
generally accepted. If it were correct, one would expect blackwater
fever to be regularly prevalent in malarial countries and to be more or
less coextensive with the use of quinine, which is not at all the case.
It often resembles yellow fever, but the characteristic black vomit of
yellow fever rarely occurs in blackwater fever, while the black urine
from which the latter derives its name is equally rare in the former.
According to the modern school of tropical parasitology, blackwater
fever is neither a form of malaria nor produced by quinine, but a
specific disease due to a protozoal parasite akin to that which causes
the redwater fever of cattle.




BLACKWELL, THOMAS (1701-1757), Scottish classical scholar, was born at
Aberdeen on the 4th of August 1701. He took the degree of M.A. at the
Marischal College in 1718. He was appointed professor of Greek in 1723,
and was principal of the institution from 1748 until his death on the
8th of March 1757. In 1735 his first work, _An Inquiry into the Life and
Writings of Homer_, was published anonymously. It was reprinted in 1736,
and followed (in 1747) by _Proofs of the Enquiry into Homer's Life and
Writings_, a translation of the copious notes in foreign languages which
had previously appeared. This work, intended to explain the causes of
the superiority of Homer to all the poets who preceded or followed him,
shows considerable research, and contains many curious and interesting
details; but its want of method made Bentley say that, when he had gone
through half of it, he had forgotten the beginning, and, when he had
finished the reading of it, he had forgotten the whole. Blackwell's next
work (also published anonymously in 1748) was _Letters Concerning
Mythology_. In 1752 he took the degree of doctor of laws, and in the
following year published the first volume of _Memoirs of the Court of
Augustus_; the second volume appeared in 1755, the third in 1764
(prepared for the press, after Blackwell's death, by John Mills). This
work shows considerable originality and erudition, but is even more
unmethodical than his earlier writings and full of unnecessary
digressions. Blackwell has been called the restorer of Greek literature
in the north of Scotland; but his good qualities were somewhat spoiled
by pomposity and affectation, which exposed him to ridicule.




BLACKWOOD, WILLIAM (1776-1834), Scottish publisher, founder of the firm
of William Blackwood & Sons, was born of humble parents at Edinburgh on
the 20th of November 1776. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to
a firm of booksellers in Edinburgh, and he followed his calling also in
Glasgow and London for several years. Returning to Edinburgh in 1804, he
opened a shop in South Bridge Street for the sale of old, rare and
curious books. He undertook the Scottish agency for John Murray and
other London publishers, and gradually drifted into publishing on his
own account, removing in 1816 to Princes Street. On the 1st of April
1817 was issued the first number of the _Edinburgh Monthly Magazine_,
which on its seventh number, bore the name of _Blackwood's_ as the
leading part of the title. "Maga," as this magazine soon came to be
called, was the organ of the Scottish Tory party, and round it gathered
a host of able writers. William Blackwood died on the 16th of September
1834, and was succeeded by his two sons, Alexander and Robert, who
added a London branch to the firm. In 1845 Alexander Blackwood died, and
shortly afterwards Robert.

A younger brother, John Blackwood (1818-1879), succeeded to the
business; four years later he was joined by Major William Blackwood, who
continued in the firm until his death in 1861. In 1862 the major's elder
son, William Blackwood (b. 1836), was taken into partnership. John
Blackwood was a man of strong personality and great business
discernment; it was in the pages of his magazine that George Eliot's
first stories, _Scenes of Clerical Life_, appeared. He also inaugurated
the "Ancient Classics for English readers" series. On his death Mr
William Blackwood was left in sole control of the business. With him
were associated his nephews, George William and J.H. Blackwood, sons of
Major George Blackwood, who was killed at Maiwand in 1880.

  See _Annals of a Publishing House; William Blackwood and his Sons_ ...
  (1897-1898), the first two volumes of which were written by Mrs
  Oliphant; the third, dealing with John Blackwood, by his daughter, Mrs
  Gerald Porter.




BLADDER (from A.S. _blaeddre_, connected with _blawan_, to blow, cf.
Ger. _blase_), the membranous sac in animals which receives the urine
secreted from the kidneys. The word is also used for any similar sac,
such as the gall-bladder, the swim-bladder in fishes, or the small
vesicle in various seaweeds.




BLADDER AND PROSTATE DISEASES. The urinary bladder in man (for the
anatomy see URINARY SYSTEM), being the temporary reservoir of the renal
secretion, and, as such, containing the urine for longer or shorter
periods, is liable to various important affections. These are dealt with
in the first part of this article. The diseases of the prostate are so
intimately allied that they are best considered, as in the subsequent
section, as part of the same subject.


_Diseases of the Bladder._

  Cystitis.

_Cystitis_, or inflammation of the bladder, which may be acute or
chronic, is due to the invasion of the mucous lining by micro-organisms,
which gain access either from the urethra, the kidneys or the
blood-stream. It is easy to see how the diplococci of gonorrhoea may
infect the bladder-membrane by direct extension of the inflammation, and
how the bacilli which are swarming in the neighbouring bowel may find
access to the urethra or bladder when the intervening tissues have been
rendered penetrable by a wound or by inflammation. Sometimes, however,
especially in the female, the germs from the large intestine enter the
bladder by way of the vulva and the urethra.

Any condition leading to disturbance of the function of the bladder,
such as enlargement of the prostate, stricture of the urethra, stone, or
injury, may cause cystitis by preparing the way for bacillary invasion.
The bacilli of tuberculosis and of typhoid fever may set up cystitis by
coming down into the bladder from the kidneys with the urine, or they
reach it by the blood-stream, or invade it by the urethra. Another way
of cystitis being set up is by the introduction of the germs of
suppuration by a catheter or bougie sweeping them in from the urethra;
or the instrument itself may be unsterilized and dirty and so may
introduce them. It used formerly to be thought that wet or cold was
enough to cause inflammation of the bladder, but the probability is that
this acts only by lowering the resistance of the lining membrane of the
bladder, and preparing it for the invasion of the germs which were
merely waiting for an opportunity. In the same way, gout or injury may
lead to the lurking bacilli being enabled to effect their attack. But in
every case disease-germs are the cause of the trouble, and they may be
found in the urine. The first effect of inflammation is to render the
bladder irritable, so that as soon as a few drops of urine have
collected, the individual has intense or uncontrollable desire to
micturate. The effort may be very painful and may be accompanied by
bleeding from the overloaded blood-vessels of the inflamed membrane. In
addition to blood, pus is likely to be found in the urine, which by this
time is alkaline and ammoniacal, and teeming with micro-organisms. As
regards _treatment_, the patient should be at once sent to bed in a warm
room, and should sit several times a day in a very hot hip-bath. When
he has got back to bed, a fomentation under oil-silk, or some other
waterproof material, should be placed over the lower part of the
abdomen. The diet should be milk (diluted with hot or cold water),
barley-water, and bread and butter; no alcoholic drink should be
allowed. If the urine is acid, bicarbonate of soda may be given, or
citrate of soda; if alkaline, urotropine--a derivative of formic
aldehyde--may prove a useful urinary disinfectant. If the straining and
distress are great, a suppository of ¼ or ½ a grain of morphia may be
introduced into the rectum every two or three hours. The bowels must be
kept freely open. If the urine is foul, the bladder should be frequently
washed out by a soft catheter and two or three feet of india-rubber
tubing with a funnel at the other end, weak and abundant hot lotions of
Sanitas or Condy's fluid being used.

_Chronic cystitis_ is the condition left when the acute symptoms have
passed away, but it is liable at any moment to resume the acute
condition. If the cystitis is very intractable, refusing to yield to hot
irrigations, and to washings with nitrate of silver lotion, it may be
advisable to open the bladder from the front, and to explore, treat,
drain and rest it.

In _tuberculous cystitis_ there is added to the symptoms the discovery
of the bacilli of tuberculosis in the urine, and cystoscopic examination
may reveal the presence of tubercles of the mucous membrane or even of
ulceration. The patient is probably losing weight, and he may present
foci of tuberculosis at the back of the testicle, the lung or kidney, or
in a joint or bone, or in a lymphatic gland. _Treatment_ is rebellious
and unpromising. Washings and lotions give but temporary relief, and if
the bladder is opened for rest, and for a more direct treatment, the
germs of suppuration may enter, and, working in conjunction with the
bacilli, may cause great havoc. Koch's tuberculin treatment should
certainly be given a trial. This consists of the injection into the body
of an emulsion of dead tubercle bacilli which have been sterilized by
heat. As a result of this injection the blood sets to work to form an
"opsonin"--a protective material which so modifies the disease-germs as
to render them attractive to the white corpuscles of the patient's blood
(phagocytes), which then seize upon and destroy them. Sir A.E. Wright
has devised a delicate method of examination of the blood (the
calculation of the opsonic index) which tells when the tuberculin
injections should be resorted to and when withheld (see BLOOD).


  Stone.

_Calculi and Gravel._--Uric acid is deposited from the urine either as
small crystals resembling cayenne pepper, or else, in combination with
soda and ammonia, as an amorphous "brick-dust" deposit, which, on
cooling, leaves a red stain on the bottom of the vessel, soluble in hot
water. These substances are derived from the disintegration of
nitrogenized food taken in excess of demand, and from the breaking down
of the human tissues. They occur therefore in fevers, in wasting
diseases, and in the normal subject after excessive muscular exercises,
especially if these exercises have been accompanied with so much
perspiration that the excess of water from the blood has escaped by the
skin rather than by the kidneys. The abundance of this deposit is in
accordance with the amount of heat developed and work done in the body,
and corresponds with the dust and ashes raked out of the fire-box of the
locomotive after a long run. But supposing that the uric acid débris
continues to be excessive, the risk of the formation of renal or vesical
calculi becomes considerable, and it may be advisable to place the
patient on a restricted nitrogenized diet, to induce him to drink large
quantities of water, and to keep his bowels so loose with watery
laxatives, such as Epsom salts or sulphate of soda, that the waste
products of his body are made to escape by the bowels rather than by the
kidneys. In addition to the salts just mentioned, an occasional dose of
blue pill will prove helpful. A course of treatment at Contrexéville or
Carlsbad may be taken with advantage.

Alkaline urine is unable to hold the phosphates of ammonia and magnesia
in solution, so they are deposited in abundance either in the kidney or
bladder. If the voided urine is allowed to stand in a tall glass they
sink to the bottom with pus and mucus in a cloudy deposit. To remedy
this condition it is necessary to treat the cystitis with which the
bacterial decomposition of the urine is associated. It may be that a
calculus of acid urine, such as one of uric acid or oxalate of lime, has
been resting in the bladder and keeping up incessant irritation, and
that the micro-organisms of decomposition or suppuration have found
their way to the mucous lining of the bladder from either the bowel, the
urethra or the blood-stream; undergoing cultivation there they break up
the urea into carbonate of ammonia and so render the urine alkaline.
This alkaline urine deposits its phosphates, which light upon the
calculus and encrust it with a mortary shell, which may go on increasing
in size until it may even fill the bladder. Sometimes the nucleus of a
calculus is a chip of bone or a blood-clot, or some foreign substance
which has been introduced into the bladder. Sooner or later the urine
becomes alkaline and the calculus is encrusted with lime salts.

When urine contains a larger amount of chemical constituents than it can
conveniently hold in solution, a certain quantity crystallizes out, and
may be deposited in the kidney or in the bladder. If the crystals run
together in the kidney the resulting concretion may either remain in
that organ or may find its way into the bladder, where it may remain to
form the nucleus of a larger vesical calculus, or, especially in the
case of females, it may, while still small, escape from the bladder
during micturition.

In children, in whom there is a rapid disintegration of nitrogenized
tissues, a uric acid calculus in escaping from the bladder may block the
urethra and give rise to sudden retention of urine. On introducing a
metal "sound," the surgeon may strike the stone, and if it happens to be
near the bladder he may push it back and subsequently remove it by
crushing. But if it has made its way some distance along the urethra, so
that he can feel it from the outside, he should remove it by a clean
incision.

A stone in the bladder worries the nerves of the mucous membrane, and,
giving them the impression that the bladder contains much water, causes
the desire and need for micturition to be constant. The irritation
causes an excessive secretion of mucus, just as a piece of grit under
the eyelid causes a constant running from the eye. So the urine, if
allowed to stand, gives a copious deposit. During micturition the
contracting bladder bruises its congested blood-vessels against the
stone, so that towards the end of micturition blood appears in the
urine. Lastly, cystitis occurs, and the urine contains fetid pus. A
stone in the bladder gives rise to pain at the end of the penis, and it
is apt suddenly to stop the flow of urine during micturition.

The association of any of these symptoms leads the surgeon to suspect
the presence of a stone in the bladder, and he confirms his suspicions
by introducing a slender steel rod, a "sound," by which he strikes and
feels the stone. Further confirmation may be obtained by the help of the
X-rays, or, in the adult, by using a cystoscope. In a child the stone
may often be felt by a finger in the rectum, the front of the bladder
being pressed by a hand on the lower part of the abdomen. The
_cystoscope_ is a straight, hollow metal tube about the size of a long
cedar pencil, which the surgeon introduces into the adult bladder, which
has already been filled with warm boracic lotion. Down the tube run two
fine wires which control a minute electric lamp at the bladder end of
the instrument. At that end also is a small glass window which prevents
the fluid escaping by the tube, and also a prism; at the other end of
the tube is an eye-piece. By the use of this slender speculum the
practised surgeon can recognize the presence of tubercle or tuberculous
ulceration of the bladder, stone, or other foreign material, and
innocent or malignant growths. He can also watch the urine entering the
bladder by the openings of the ureters, and determine from which kidney
blood or pus is coming.

The _treatment_ of stone in the bladder is governed by various
conditions. Speaking generally, the surgeon prefers to introduce a
lithotrite and crush the stone into small fragments, and then to flush
out the fragments by using a full-sized, hollow metal catheter and an
india-rubber wash-bottle. Even in children this operation may generally
be adopted with success, the stone being crushed to atoms and the
fragments being washed out to the last small chip. But if the stone is
a very hard one (as are some of the oxalate of lime calculi), or if it
is very large, or if the bladder or the prostate gland is in a state of
advanced disease, or if the urethra is not roomy enough to admit
instruments of adequate calibre, the crushing operation (_lithotrity_)
must be deemed unsuitable, and the stone must be removed by a cutting
operation (_lithotomy_).

_Lithotomy_.--Cutting for stone has been long practised; but up to the
beginning of the 19th century it was performed only by a few men, who,
bolder than their contemporaries, had specially worked at that operation
and had attained celebrity as skilful lithotomists. Patients went long
distances to be operated on by them, and certain of the older surgeons,
as William Cheselden, performed a large number of operations with most
excellent results. The operation was by an incision from the perineum,
and is ordinarily spoken of as _lateral_ lithotomy. It was splendidly
designed, and gave good results, especially in children. But it is now a
thing of the past, having almost entirely given place to the _high_ or
_supra-pubic_ operation. In the high operation the patient, being duly
prepared, is placed upon his back and the bladder is washed out with hot
boracic lotion, and when the lotion returns quite clean a final
injection is made until the bladder is felt rising above the pubes. Then
the india-rubber tube is removed from the silver catheter by which the
injection has been made, and the end of the catheter is plugged by a
spigot. An incision is then made in the middle line of the abdomen over
the bladder region. The incision must be kept as low as possible, so
that the bladder may be reached below the peritoneum, which, higher up,
gives it an external, serous coat. As the bladder is approached, a good
many veins are seen to be in the way, some of which have to be wounded.
The bladder-wall is recognized by its coarse network of pale muscular
fibres, through which, on each side of the middle line, a strong suture
is passed, so that when the bladder is opened and the lotion comes
rushing out, the opening which has been made into the bladder may not
sink into the depths of the pelvis. A finger introduced into the bladder
makes out the exact size and position of the stone, or stones, and the
removal is effected by special forceps. Bleeding having ceased, the
bladder-wound is partly or entirely closed by sutures and allowed to
fall into the pelvis, the catheter having been removed. It is advisable
to leave a drainage tube in the abdominal wound for a while, so that if
urine leaks from the bladder-wound it may find a ready escape to the
dressings.

_Litholapaxy_.--Lithotrity consists of two parts--the crushing of the
stone, and the removal of the detritus. The two stages are now carried
out at one "sitting," without an interval being allowed between them, as
was formerly the practice, and the term "litholapaxy" designates this
method. The patient having been anaesthetized, 10 oz. of hot boracic
lotion are injected, and the crushing instrument, the lithotrite, is
then passed into the bladder. The lithotrite has two blades, a "male"
and a "female," the latter fenestrated, the former solid with its
surface notched. When the stone is fixed between the blades the screw is
used, and great pressure is applied evenly, gradually and continuously
to the stone. The lithotrite is made of very tough steel, so that hard
stones may be crushed without danger of the instrument breaking or
bending. Care must be taken not to catch the bladder-wall with the
lithotrite. This danger is avoided by raising the point of the
lithotrite immediately after grasping the stone and before crushing. The
stone breaks into two or more pieces, and these fragments must be
crushed, one by one, until they are powdered fine enough to escape by
the large evacuating catheter. If the stone be large and hard, half an
hour or longer may be required to crush it sufficiently fine. When the
surgeon fails to catch any more large pieces, the presumption is that
the stone has been thoroughly broken up. The lithotrite is then
withdrawn and the detritus is washed out by an "aspirator," which
consists of a stiff elastic ball which is connected with a trap, into
which fragments of stone fall so as not to pass out on the instrument
being used at later periods in the operation. A large catheter, with the
eye very near the end of the short curve, is passed into the bladder;
the aspirator, full of boracic lotion, is attached to the catheter, and
a few ounces of the fluid are expressed from the aspirator into the
bladder by squeezing the rubber ball. When the pressure is taken off the
ball, it dilates and draws the fluid out of the bladder, and with it
some of the detritus, which falls into the trap. This is repeated until
all the fragments have been removed. After the operation the patient
sometimes suffers from discomfort. His urine should be drawn off by a
soft catheter at regular intervals for a few days. If the pain be
severe, it can generally be relieved by fomentations. The patient must
be kept in bed after the operation, and in cases where the stone has
been large and the bladder irritable, the surgeon should insist on his
remaining there for at least a week; in those cases which go on
favourably the patients are soon able to perform their ordinary duties.
Fatal terminations, however, do now and again occur from suppression of
urine, the result of the old-standing kidney disease which so often
complicates these cases.

To Brigade-Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel Dennis Francis Keegan, of the
Indian Medical Service, is due the fact that the operation of crushing
and promptly removing all fragments of a vesical calculus is as well
suited for boys as for men. In entire opposition to long-standing
European prejudices, Keegan's operation is now firmly and permanently
established. The old operation (Cheselden's) of cutting a stone out
through the bottom of a boy's bladder is now seldom resorted to, and if
a stone in a boy is found too large or too hard to lend itself to the
crushing operation, it is removed by a vertical incision through the
lower part of the anterior wall of the abdomen, as described above. For
a successful performance of the crushing operation in a boy a small
lithotrite has, of course, to be used, and it must be of the very best
English make. The operation has to be done with the utmost gentleness
and thoroughness, not a particle of the crushed stone being left in the
bladder, since otherwise the piece left becomes the nucleus of a fresh
stone and the trouble recurs.

The treatment of vesical calculi by other means than operative surgery
is of little value. Attempts have been made to dissolve them by internal
remedies, or by the injection of chemical agents into the bladder; but,
although such methods have for a time been apparently successful, they
have invariably been found worthless for removing calculi once actually
formed. Nevertheless, much can be done towards _preventing_ the
formation of calculi in those who have a tendency to their formation, by
attention to diet, by taking proper exercise, and by the internal
administration of drugs.

  _Rupture of the bladder_ may be caused by a kick or blow over the
  upper part of the abdomen, or by a wheel passing over it; or it may be
  a complication of fracture of the pelvis. If the rupture is in that
  part of the bladder which is uncovered by the peritoneum, the
  extravasated urine may be cut down upon and let out with good prospect
  of success; but if the rupture is in the upper or hinder part of the
  bladder the urine is let loose into the general peritoneal cavity and
  sets up peritonitis, which is more than likely to prove fatal. If the
  surgeon knows that the bladder is ruptured he should operate at once
  in order to provide escape for the urine, and also to sew up the rent.
  If the possibility of the bladder being ruptured be even suspected,
  the surgeon should pass a catheter. Perhaps he draws off an ounce or
  two of blood-stained urine. This makes him doubly suspicious, so he
  injects into the bladder five, eight or ten ounces of warm boracic
  lotion, and, leaving it there for a few minutes, he measures the
  amount which he is able afterwards to withdraw; if he finds that a
  certain amount is lost he is assured that a leakage has taken place
  and he at once proceeds to operate. If only the diagnosis is made
  promptly, and the operation is at once undertaken, the outlook is not
  unfavourable. A generation or so back nearly all the cases of rupture
  of bladder ended fatally.

  _Villous disease_ of the bladder is innocent; that is to say, it does
  not spread to the neighbouring structures or implicate the lymphatic
  glands. The villi are slender, branched, filamentous processes which,
  springing from the floor of the bladder, float in the urine like
  seaweed. They are freely supplied with blood-vessels, so that when a
  piece of a villus is broken off there is likely to be blood in the
  urine. Indeed, painless haemorrhage is one of the characteristic
  features of the disease, and when fragments of the "seaweed" are found
  in the urine the diagnosis is clear. If the bladder is opened from the
  front, as already described, the villi may be nipped off by special
  forceps and the disease permanently cured.

  _Malignant disease_ of the bladder is almost always the warty form of
  cancer known as epithelioma. It springs as a sessile growth from the
  mucous membrane of the floor near the opening of one of the ureters,
  and, worrying the sensory nerves, causes irritability of the bladder
  and incontinence of urine. In due course septic germs reach the
  bladder, either from the urethra, the bowel, the kidneys or the
  blood-stream, and cystitis sets in. When ulceration has taken place,
  blood occurs in the urine, and the patient--generally beyond middle
  age--suffers dull or lancinating pains. Eventually the rectum may also
  be involved and the distress becomes extreme. The presence of the
  growth may be determined by sounding the bladder, by the cystoscope,
  and by the finger in the rectum. If the growth invades the outlet,
  retention of urine may occur, and the surgeon may be compelled to open
  the bladder from the front of the abdomen. In cases where operation is
  out of the question, washing the bladder with hot boracic lotion may
  give great relief. The treatment of cancer of the bladder by operation
  is, as a rule, unsatisfactory, because of the close proximity of the
  growth to the ureters and to the rectum. If, however, the disease were
  recognized early and had not invaded the neighbouring structures, and
  if it were upon the upper or the anterior part of the bladder, its
  removal might be hopefully undertaken.

  _Hypertrophy and Dilatation._--When there is long-continued
  obstruction to the flow of urine, as in stricture of the urethra, or
  enlargement of the prostate, the bladder-wall becomes much thickened,
  the muscular fibres increasing both in size and number; the condition
  is known as "hypertrophy." Hypertrophy may be accompanied by
  dilatation of the bladder, a condition which the bladder may assume
  when the voiding of its contents is interfered with for a length of
  time.

  _Paralysis_ of the bladder is a want of contractile power in the
  muscular fibres of the bladder-wall. It may result from injuries
  whereby the spinal cord is lacerated or pressed upon, so that the
  micturition centre, which is situated in the lumbar region, is thrown
  out of working order. The result may be either retention or
  incontinence of urine; sometimes there is at first retention, which
  later is followed by incontinence. Paralysis is also met with in
  certain nervous diseases, as in locomotor ataxia, and in various
  cerebral lesions, as in apoplexy.

  _Atony_ of the bladder is a paresis or partial paralysis. It is due to
  a want of tone in the muscular fibres, and is frequently the result of
  over-distension of the bladder, such as may occur in cases of
  enlargement of the prostate. The patient is unable to empty the
  bladder, and the condition of atony gets increasingly worse.

  In both paralysis and atony the indication is carefully to prevent
  over-distension by the urine being retained too long, and at the same
  time to treat by appropriate means the cause which has produced or is
  keeping up the condition.

  _Incontinence of urine_ may occur in the adult or in the child, but is
  due to widely different causes in the two cases. In the child it may
  be simply a bad habit, the child not having been properly trained; but
  more frequently there is a want of control in the micturition-centre,
  so that the child passes its water unwittingly, especially during the
  night. In adults it is not so much a condition of incontinence in the
  sense of water being passed against the will, but is a suggestion that
  the bladder is already full, the water which passes being the overflow
  from a too full reservoir. It is usually caused by an obstruction
  external to the bladder, e.g. enlarged prostate or stricture of the
  urethra; a calculus may produce the condition. In the child an attempt
  must be made to improve the tone of the micturition-centre by the use
  of belladonna or strychnine internally, and of a blister or faradism
  externally over the lumbar region, and every effort should be made to
  train the child to pass water at stated times and regular intervals.
  In the adult the cause which produces the over-distension must be
  removed if possible; but, as a rule, the patient has to be provided
  with a catheter, which he can pass before the bladder has filled to
  overflowing. A soft flexible catheter should be given in preference to
  a rigid or semi-rigid one. The best form is the red-rubber catheter,
  and he should be taught the need of keeping it absolutely clean. In
  the case of children incontinence of urine means irritability; in
  adults it means overflow.

  The condition termed by Sir James Paget _stammering micturition_ is
  analogous to speech stammering, and occurs in those who are nervous
  and easily put out. It would seem to be due to the sphincter of the
  bladder not relaxing synchronously with the contraction of the
  detrusor, and is sometimes caused by external irritation, such as
  preputial adhesions. Occasionally not a drop of urine can be passed,
  or a little passes and then a sudden stoppage occurs; the more the
  patient strains the worse he becomes, until at last there is complete
  retention of urine. The trouble can sometimes be cured by the removal
  of irritating causes, and in these cases, as well as in those in which
  no such cause can be discovered, care should be taken to avoid those
  difficulties which have given rise to the patient's worst failures. If
  at any time he should fail to perform the act of micturition, he ought
  not to strain, but should quietly wait for a little before making any
  further effort. Regularity in the times of making water is also of
  much importance.

  _Retention of urine_ may occur in paralysis of the bladder, or in
  conditions where the patient is suffering from an illness which blunts
  the nervous sensibility, such as apoplexy, concussion of the brain,
  or typhoid fever. It is, however, more commonly due to obstruction
  anterior to the bladder, as in stricture of the urethra or enlargement
  of the prostate. The distended bladder can be felt as a rounded
  swelling above the pubes, and perhaps reaching to the level of the
  navel. Percussion over it gives a dull note. When the bladder is
  distended, it is necessary to evacuate it as soon as possible. If
  there is no obstruction to the flow of urine, the retention being due
  to atony or paralysis, a soft catheter is passed and the water drawn
  off. But when there is an obstruction which cannot be overcome,
  aspiration has to be resorted to, the needle of the aspirator being
  pushed through the abdominal wall into the bladder. The point of
  puncture in the abdominal wall is in the middle line a few inches
  above the symphysis pubis. The bladder may be emptied in this way very
  many times in the same person with only good result.


_Diseases of Prostate Gland._

The prostate gland may become acutely inflamed as the result of the
backward extension of gonorrhoeal inflammation of the urethra; it may
also be attacked by the germs of ordinary suppuration as well as by the
bacilli of tuberculosis. A sudden enlargement of a large gland lying
against the outlets of the bladder and the bowel renders micturition
difficult, painful or impossible, and interferes with defaecation.
Pressure of the seat of the chair upon the perineum also causes
distress, so the man sits sideways and on the edge of the seat. If
abscess forms, it should be incised from the perineum; if allowed to run
its course it may burst into the bladder, the urethra or the rectum, and
set up serious complication. The treatment of prostatitis (inflammation
of the prostate) consists in rest in bed, sitz-baths and fomentations.
If retention of urine takes place a soft catheter must be passed. In the
early stage of an acute attack a dozen leeches upon the perineum may do
good. The bowels must be kept freely open, and from time to time, as the
pain demands, a morphia suppository may be introduced into the bowel.

  _Chronic prostatitis_ is a legacy from a recent or long-past attack of
  gonorrhoea. The enlargement gives rise to a feeling of weight and
  fulness in the perineum, irritability of the bladder, and a gleety
  urethral discharge. Manual examination reveals the presence of a
  large, hard mass in front of the bladder, and in the mass there can
  often be felt softish or tender areas which seem to threaten abscess.
  On urine being passed into a glass, a cloudiness is seen, and material
  like pieces of vermicelli or broken threads may be noticed. These are
  the castings from the long tubular glands, and are characteristic of
  chronic inflammation of the prostate. The occasional passage of a
  large metal bougie, the use of weak lotions of nitrate of silver, the
  administration of quinine and iron, and the application of blisters to
  the perineum, may be tried as circumstances direct. The patient should
  lead a quiet life, free from sexual excitement. Horse-exercise,
  cycle-riding, rough games and alcohol should be avoided.

_Enlargement of the prostate_ exists in a considerable proportion of men
of about sixty years of age and onward. It consists of an uncontrolled
growth of the normal muscular and glandular tissue of the prostate,
interfering with, or absolutely stopping, the outflow of the urine.
Gently pushing the bladder upwards and backwards, it increases the
length of the urethra, so that in order to draw off retained urine the
catheter must be longer than ordinary, but inasmuch as there is no
actual narrowing of the passage it may be of full calibre. The beak
should be well turned up so that it may ride in front of, and surmount,
the median enlargement. Because of the thick, ring-like mass of new
tissue around the outlet of the bladder, there is difficulty in
micturition, and because the muscular bladder wall is now unable to
contract upon all its contents a certain amount of urine is retained. As
the enlarged prostate bulges up in the floor of the bladder, a pouch or
hollow forms behind it, from which the muscular wall is unable to
dislodge the stagnant urine. This keeps up constant irritation, and if
by chance the germs of decomposition find their way thither, cystitis
sets in and the patient's condition becomes serious, not only because of
the risk to which his tired and irritated kidneys are submitted, but
because of the possibility of a phosphatic stone being formed in the
bladder. The seriousness of enlargement of the prostate does not depend
upon the size of the growth so much as upon the inability of the patient
to empty his bladder completely.

  The surgeon forms his estimate of the size of the prostate by rectal
  examination. But sometimes a patient has retention of urine from
  enlarged prostate, when by this method of manual examination the
  amount of increase appears quite unimportant. The explanation is that
  the enlargement is chiefly confined to a small piece of the gland
  which protrudes like a tongue into the water-way. Robert McGill of
  Leeds was the first surgeon to remove by a supra-pubic operation this
  tongue-like process of new prostatic growth. Attempts had sometimes
  been made to get rid of it by instrumentation through the urethra, but
  they had not met with much success.

  When the surgeon has made out the existence of an enlargement of the
  prostate, the next thing is to find to what extent this interferes
  with the bladder being emptied. To do this, he asks the patient to
  pass as much water as he is able, and then with due precautions
  introduces a soft catheter and measures the amount of urine which he
  thus draws off--half an ounce, an ounce, two ounces, however much it
  may be. It is this "residual urine" which causes the annoyance and the
  danger of enlarged prostate, and unless arrangements can be made for
  its regular withdrawal serious trouble is almost certain to ensue. The
  passing of a large catheter may have the effect of so opening up the
  water-way that, at any rate for a time, the irritability of the
  bladder may cease, in which case the patient may be instructed in the
  art of passing a catheter for himself. Or the surgeon may find that in
  addition to the regular passing of a large catheter an occasional
  washing-out of the bladder with hot boracic lotion is all that is
  needed in the way of active treatment. At the same time, however, the
  patient is placed upon a plain and wholesome diet with little or no
  alcohol, and he is instructed to lead in every respect a regular and
  quiet life. To many men with enlarged prostate the passing of an
  instrument night and morning is no great hardship, while to others the
  idea of leading what is called a "catheter life" appears intolerable,
  or, having for a time been patiently carried out, is found not only
  severely trying but greatly disappointing.

  In some people the very first passing of a catheter sets up a local
  and constitutional disturbance, the bladder being rendered irritable
  and intolerant, the temperature going up, and shiverings and
  perspirations manifesting themselves. This condition was formerly
  called "catheter fever," and was looked upon as something mysterious
  and peculiar. It is now generally understood to be the result of
  septic inoculation of the interior of the bladder.

  Lastly, in other persons the passing of the catheter is attended with
  so much difficulty, distress or bleeding, that something more helpful
  and effectual is urgently called for.

_Operative Treatment._--It has long been known that large tumours of the
uterus sometimes dwindle if the ovaries are removed by operation, and
Professor William White of Philadelphia thought that prostatic growths
might be similarly influenced by the removal of the testicles. Beyond
question considerable improvement has followed this operation in cases
of enlargement of the prostate, especially where the enlargement seemed
to be general, soft and vascular. A similar though perhaps a slower
effect is produced when the duct of the testis, the vas deferens, is
divided on each side of the body. If there is no great urgency about the
case this treatment may well be tried, the bladder being all the while
duly emptied by catheter and washed by irrigation. But if the case is
urgent, there being difficulty or bleeding with the passing of the
catheter, the bladder being excessively irritable and the urine foul, a
more radical measure is needed. The best operation is that upon the
lines laid down by Robert McGill, who opened the bladder through the
anterior abdominal wall and removed that part of the prostate gland
which was blocking the water-way. McGill's operation was improved upon
by Eugene Fuller of New York, who, in 1895, published a full account of
his procedure.[1] Having opened the bladder from the front (as in
supra-pubic lithotomy), he introduced his left index finger into the
rectum and thrust the prostate gland towards the right index finger,
which was then in the bladder. With the nail of that finger, or with the
end of a pair of scissors, he made a rent in the mucous membrane of the
bladder and the capsule of the gland, and then shelled out the mass of
new tissue which had caused the prostatic enlargement. This operation is
called "prostatectomy," which means the removal of the prostate gland.
The prostate gland, however, is not removed, but only a muscular and
glandular mass (adenoma), which, growing within the prostatic capsule,
encircles the urethra and squeezes the original gland tissue out of
existence. Following on the lines of McGill and Fuller, P.J. Freyer has
done excellent work in England towards placing this operation upon a
sound basis.

Subsequently to the operation the bladder enjoys complete and needful
rest, and the kidneys, which previously were in a condition of perpetual
disturbance, improve in working power. The wound in the bladder and in
the abdominal wall gradually closes; the function of the bladder
returns, and the patient is soon able to go back to his usual occupation
in greatly improved health and vigour. The operation is, necessarily, a
serious one, and the age of the patient, the condition of his bladder,
of his kidneys, and of his blood-vessels, require to be taken into
consideration; still, the operation gives an excellent account of itself
in statistics, and if a practical surgeon advises a patient to accept
its risks his counsel may well be followed.

  _Malignant disease of the prostate_ is distinguished from senile
  glandular enlargement by the rapidity of its growth, by the freeness
  of the bleeding which is associated with the introduction of a
  catheter, and by the marked wasting which the individual undergoes.
  Unfortunately, by the time that the cancerous nature of the disease is
  definitely recognized, the prospect of relief being afforded by
  operation is small.     (E. O.*)


FOOTNOTE:

  [1] _Diseases of the Genito-urinary System_, by Eugene Fuller, M.D.
    (London and New York, 1900).




BLADDER-WORT, the name given to a submerged water plant, _Utricularia
vulgaris_, with finely divided leaves upon which are borne small
bladders provided with trap-door entrances which open only inwards.
Small crustaceans and other aquatic animals push their way into the
bladders and are unable to escape. The products of the decay of the
organisms thus captured are absorbed into the plant by star-shaped hairs
which line the interior of the bladder. In this way the plant is
supplied with nitrogenous food from the animal kingdom. Bladder-wort
bears small, yellow, two-lipped flowers on a stem which rises above the
surface of the water. It is found in pools and ditches in the British
Isles, and is widely distributed in the north temperate zone. The genus
contains about two hundred species in tropical and temperate regions.

[Illustration: A, Bladder of _Utricularia neglecta_ (after Darwin),
enlarged. B, stellate hairs from interior of bladder of _U. vulgaris_.]




BLADES, WILLIAM (1824-1890), English printer and bibliographer, was born
at Clapham, London, on the 5th of December 1824. In 1840 he was
apprenticed to his father's printing business in London, being
subsequently taken into partnership. The firm was afterwards known as
Blades, East & Blades. His interest in printing led him to make a study
of the volumes produced by Caxton's press, and of the early history of
printing in England. His _Life and Typography of William Caxton,
England's First Printer_, was published in 1861-1863, and the
conclusions which he set forth were arrived at by a careful examination
of types in the early books, each class of type being traced from its
first use to the time when, spoilt by wear, it passed out of Caxton's
hands. Some 450 volumes from the Caxton Press were thus carefully
compared and classified in chronological order. In 1877 Blades took an
active part in organizing the Caxton celebration, and strongly supported
the foundation of the Library Association. He was a keen collector of
old books, prints and medals. His publications relate chiefly to the
early history of printing, the _Enemies of Books_, his most popular
work, being produced in 1881. He died at Sutton in Surrey on the 27th of
April 1890.




BLAENAVON, or BLAENAFON, an urban district in the northern parliamentary
division of Monmouthshire, England, 15 m. N. by W. of Newport, on the
Great Western, London & North Western and Rhymney railways. Pop. (1901)
10,869. It lies in the uppermost part of the Afon Lwyd valley, at an
elevation exceeding 1000 ft., in a wild and mountainous district, on the
eastern edge of the great coal and iron mining region of Glamorganshire
and Monmouthshire. There are very extensive iron and steel works, with
blast furnaces and rolling mills in the district, which employ the large
industrial population.




BLAGOVYESHCHENSK, a town of East Siberia, chief town of the Amur
government, on the left bank of the Amur, near its confluence with the
Zeya in 50° 15' N. lat. and 127° 38' E. long., 610 m. by river above
Khabarovsk. Founded in 1856, the town had, in 1900, 37,368 inhabitants,
and is the seat of the bishop of Amur and Kamchatka. There are steam
flour-mills and ironworks. It is a centre for tea exported to Russia,
cattle brought from Transbaikalia and Mongolia for the Amur, and for
grain.




BLAIKIE, WILLIAM GARDEN (1820-1899), Scottish divine, was born on the
5th of February 1820, at Aberdeen, where his father had been the first
provost of the reformed corporation. After studying at the Marischal
College, where Alexander Bain and David Masson were among his
contemporaries, he went in 1839 to Edinburgh to complete his theological
course under Thomas Chalmers. In 1842 he was presented to the living of
Drumblade by Lord Kintore, with whose family he was connected. The
Disruption controversy reached its climax immediately afterwards, and
Blaikie, whose sympathies were entirely with Chalmers, was one of the
474 ministers who signed the deed of demission and gave up their
livings. He was Free Church minister at Pilrig, between Edinburgh and
Leith, from 1844 to 1868. Keenly interested in questions of social
reform, his first publication was a pamphlet, which was afterwards
enlarged into a book called _Better Days for Working People_. It
received public commendation from Lord Brougham, and 60,000 copies were
sold. He formed an association for providing better homes for working
people, and the Pilrig Model Buildings were erected. He also undertook
the editorship of the _Free Church Magazine_, and then that of the
_North British Review_, which he carried on until 1863. In 1864 he was
asked to undertake the Scottish editorship of the _Sunday Magazine_, and
for this magazine much of his most characteristic literary work was
done, especially in the editorial notes, then a new feature in magazine
literature.

In 1868 Blaikie was called to the chair of apologetics and pastoral
theology at New College, Edinburgh. In dealing with the latter subject
he was seen at his very best. He had wide experience, a comprehensive
grasp of facts, abundant sympathy, an extensive knowledge of men, and a
great capacity for teaching. In 1870 he was one of two representatives
chosen from the Free Church of Scotland to attend the united general
assembly of the Presbyterian churches of the United States. He prolonged
his visit to make a thorough acquaintance with American Presbyterianism,
and this, followed by a similar tour in Europe, fitted him to become the
real founder of the Presbyterian Alliance. Much of his strength in the
later years of life was given to this work. In 1892 he was elected to
the chairmanship of the general assembly, the last of the moderators who
had entered the church before the disruption. In 1897 he resigned his
professorship, and died on the 11th of June 1899.

Blaikie was an ardent philanthropist, and an active and intelligent
temperance reformer, in days when this was far from easy. He raised
£14,000 for the relief of the Waldensian churches. Although he took an
active part in the affairs of his denomination, he was not a mere
ecclesiastic. He had a keen eye for the evidences of spiritual growth or
decline, and emphasized the need of maintaining a high level of
spiritual life. He welcomed Moody to Scotland, and the evangelist made
his headquarters with him during his first visit. His best books are
_The Work of the Ministry--A Manual of Homiletic and Pastoral Theology_
(1873); _The Books of Samuel_ in the _Expositors' Bible Series_ (2
vols.); _The Personal Life of David Livingstone_ (1880); _After Fifty
Years_ (1893), an account of the Disruption Movement in the form of
letters of a grandfather; _Thomas Chalmers_ (1896).     (D. Mn.)




BLAINE, JAMES GILLESPIE (1830-1893), American statesman, was born in
West Brownsville, Pennsylvania, on the 31st of January 1830, of sturdy
Scottish-Irish stock on the side of his father. He was the
great-grandson of Colonel Ephraim Blaine (1741-1804), who during the
War of Independence served in the American army, from 1778 to 1782 as
commissary-general of the Northern Department. With many early evidences
of literary capacity and political aptitude, J.G. Blaine graduated at
Washington College in Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1847, and
subsequently taught successively in the Military Institute, Georgetown,
Kentucky, and in the Institution for the Blind at Philadelphia. During
this period, also, he studied law. Settling in Augusta, Maine, in 1854,
he became editor of the _Kennebec Journal_, and subsequently of the
_Portland Advertiser_. But his editorial work was soon abandoned for a
more active public career. He was elected to the lower house of the
state legislature in 1858, and served four years, the last two as
speaker. He also became chairman of the Republican state committee in
1859, and for more than twenty years personally directed every campaign
of his party.

In 1862 he was elected to Congress, serving in the House thirteen years
(December 1863 to December 1876), followed by a little over four years
in the Senate. He was chosen speaker of the House in 1869 and served
three terms. The House was the fit arena for his political and
parliamentary ability. He was a ready and powerful debater, full of
resource, and dexterous in controversy. The tempestuous politics of the
war and reconstruction period suited his aggressive nature and
constructive talent. The measures for the rehabilitation of the states
that had seceded from the Union occupied the chief attention of Congress
for several years, and Blaine bore a leading part in framing and
discussing them. The primary question related to the basis of
representation upon which they should be restored to their full rank in
the political system. A powerful section contended that the basis should
be the body of legal voters, on the ground that the South could not then
secure an increment of political power on account of the emancipated
blacks unless these blacks were admitted to political rights. Blaine, on
the other hand, contended that representation should be based on
population instead of voters, as being fairer to the North, where the
ratio of voters varied widely, and he insisted that it should be
safeguarded by security for impartial suffrage. This view prevailed, and
the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution was substantially Blaine's
proposition. In the same spirit he opposed a scheme of military
governments for the southern states, unless associated with a plan by
which, upon the acceptance of prescribed conditions, they could release
themselves from military rule and resume civil government. He was the
first in Congress to oppose the claim, which gained momentary and
widespread favour in 1867, that the public debt, pledged in coin, should
be paid in greenbacks. The protection of naturalized citizens who, on
return to their native land, were subject to prosecution on charges of
disloyalty, enlisted his active interest and support, and the agitation,
in which he was conspicuous, led to the treaty of 1870 between the
United States and Great Britain, which placed adopted and native
citizens on the same footing.

As the presidential election of 1876 approached, Blaine was clearly the
popular favourite of his party. His chance for securing the nomination,
however, was materially lessened by persistent charges which were
brought against him by the Democrats that as a member of Congress he had
been guilty of corruption in his relations with the Little Rock & Fort
Smith and the Northern Pacific railways.[1] By the majority of
Republicans, at least, he was considered to have cleared himself
completely, and in the Republican national convention he missed by only
twenty-eight votes the nomination for president, being finally beaten by
a combination of the supporters of all the other candidates. Thereupon
he entered the Senate, where his activity was unabated. Currency
legislation was especially prominent. Blaine, who had previously opposed
greenback inflation now resisted depreciated silver coinage. He was the
earnest champion of the advancement of American shipping, and advocated
liberal subsidies, insisting that the policy of protection should be
applied on sea as well as on land. The Republican national convention
of 1880, divided between the two nearly equal forces of Blaine and
General U.S. Grant--John Sherman of Ohio also having a considerable
following--struggled through thirty-six ballots, when the friends of
Blaine, combining with those of Sherman, succeeded in nominating General
James A. Garfield. In the new administration Blaine became secretary of
state, but, owing to the assassination of President Garfield and the
reorganization of the cabinet by President Chester A. Arthur, he held
the office only until December 1881. His brief service was distinguished
by several notable steps. In order to promote the friendly understanding
and co-operation of the nations on the American continents he projected
a Pan-American congress, which, after being arranged for, was frustrated
by his retirement. He also sought to secure a modification of the
Clayton-Bulwer treaty, and in an extended correspondence with the
British government strongly asserted the policy of an exclusive American
control of any isthmian canal which might be built to connect the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

With undiminished hold on the imagination and devotion of his followers
he was nominated for president in 1884. After a heated canvass, in which
he made a series of brilliant speeches, he was beaten by a narrow margin
in New York. By many, including Blaine himself, the defeat was
attributed to the effect of a phrase, "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion,"
used by a clergyman, Rev. Samuel D. Burchard (1812-1891), on the 29th of
October 1884, in Blaine's presence, to characterize what, in his
opinion, the Democratic party stood for. The phrase was not Blaine's,
but his opponents made use of it to misrepresent his attitude toward the
Roman Catholics, large numbers of whom are supposed, in consequence, to
have withdrawn their support. Refusing to be a presidential candidate in
1888, he became secretary of state under President Harrison, and resumed
his work which had been interrupted nearly eight years before. The
Pan-American congress, then projected, now met in Washington, and
Blaine, as its master spirit, presided over and guided its deliberation
through its session of five months. Its most important conclusions were
for reciprocity in trade, a continental railway and compulsory
arbitration in international complications. Shaping the tariff
legislation for this policy, Blaine negotiated a large number of
reciprocity treaties which augmented the commerce of his country. He
upheld American rights in Samoa, pursued a vigorous diplomacy with Italy
over the lynching of eleven Italians, all except three of them American
naturalized citizens, in New Orleans on the 14th of May 1891, held a
firm attitude during the strained relations between the United States
and Chile (growing largely out of the killing and wounding of American
sailors of the U.S. ship "Baltimore" by Chileans in Valparaiso on the
16th of October 1891), and carried on with Great Britain a resolute
controversy over the seal fisheries of Bering Sea,--a difference
afterwards settled by arbitration. He resigned on the 4th of June 1892,
on the eve of the meeting of the Republican national convention, wherein
his name was ineffectually used, and he died at Washington, D.C., on the
27th of January 1803.

During his later years of leisure he wrote _Twenty Years of Congress_
(1884-1886), a brilliant historical work in two volumes. Of singularly
alert faculties, with a remarkable knowledge of the men and history of
his country, and an extraordinary memory, his masterful talent for
politics and state-craft, together with his captivating manner and
engaging personality, gave him, for nearly two decades, an unrivalled
hold upon the fealty and affection of his party.

  See the _Biography of James G. Blaine_ (Norwich, Conn., 1895) by Mary
  Abigail Dodge ("Gail Hamilton"), and, in the "American Statesmen
  Series," _James G. Blaine_ (Boston, 1905) by C.E. Stanwood; also Mrs
  Blaine's _Letters_ (1908).     (C. E. S.)


FOOTNOTE:

  [1] This attack led to a dramatic scene in the House, in which Blaine
    fervidly asseverated his denial.




BLAINVILLE, HENRI MARIE DUCROTAY DE (1777-1850), French naturalist, was
born at Arques, near Dieppe, on the 12th of September 1777. About 1796
he went to Paris to study painting, but he ultimately devoted himself to
natural history, and attracted the attention of Baron Cuvier, for whom
he occasionally lectured at the Collège de France and at the Athenaeum.
In 1812 he was aided by Cuvier to obtain the chair of anatomy and
zoology in the Faculty of Sciences at Paris, but subsequently an
estrangement grew up between the two men and ended in open enmity. In
1825 Blainville was admitted a member of the Academy of Sciences; and in
1830 he was appointed to succeed J.B. Lamarck in the chair of natural
history at the museum. Two years later, on the death of Cuvier, he
obtained the chair of comparative anatomy, which he continued to occupy
for the space of eighteen years, proving himself no unworthy successor
to his great teacher. He died at Paris on the 1st of May 1850. Besides
many separate memoirs, he was the author of _Prodrome d'une nouvelle
distribution méthodique du règne animal_ (1816); _Ostéographic ou
description iconographique comparée du squelette, &c._ (1839-1864);
_Faune française_ (1821-1830); _Corns de physiologie générale et
comparée_ (1833); _Manuel de malacologie et de conchyliologie_
(1825-1827); _Histoire des sciences de l'organisme_ (1845).




BLAIR, FRANCIS PRESTON (1791-1876), American journalist and politician,
was born at Abingdon, Virginia, on the 12th of April 1791. He removed to
Kentucky, graduated at Transylvania University in 1811, took to
journalism, and was a contributor to Amos Kendall's paper, the _Argus_,
at Frankfort. In 1830, having become an ardent follower of Andrew
Jackson, he was made editor of the Washington _Globe_, the recognized
organ of the Jackson party. In this capacity, and as a member of
Jackson's "Kitchen Cabinet," he long exerted a powerful influence; the
_Globe_ was the administration organ until 1841, and the chief
Democratic organ until 1845; Blair ceased to be its editor in 1849. In
1848 he actively supported Martin Van Buren, the Free Soil candidate,
for the presidency, and in 1852 he supported Franklin Pierce, but soon
afterwards helped to organize the new Republican party, and presided at
its preliminary convention at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in February 1856.
He was influential in securing the nomination of John C. Frémont at the
June convention (1856), and of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. After Lincoln's
re-election in 1864 Blair thought that his former close personal
relations with the Confederate leaders might aid in bringing about a
cessation of hostilities, and with Lincoln's consent went unofficially
to Richmond and induced President Jefferson Davis to appoint
commissioners to confer with representatives of the United States. This
resulted in the futile "Hampton Roads Conference" of the 3rd of February
1865 (see LINCOLN, ABRAHAM). After the Civil War Blair became a
supporter of President Johnson's reconstruction policy, and eventually
rejoined the Democratic party. He died at Silver Spring, Maryland, on
the 18th of October 1876.

His son, MONTGOMERY BLAIR (1813-1883), politician and lawyer, was born
in Franklin county, Kentucky, on the 10th of May 1813. He graduated at
West Point in 1835, but, after a year's service in the Seminole War,
left the army, studied law, and began practice at St Louis, Missouri.
After serving as United States district attorney (1839-1843), as mayor
of St Louis (1842-1843), and as judge of the court of common pleas
(1843-1849), he removed to Maryland (1852), and devoted himself to law
practice principally in the Federal supreme court. He was United States
solicitor in the court of claims from 1855 until 1858, and was
associated with George T. Curtis as counsel for the plaintiff in the
Dred Scott case in 1857. In 1860 he took an active part in the
presidential campaign in behalf of Lincoln, in whose cabinet he was
postmaster-general from 1861 until September 1864, when he resigned as a
result of the hostility of the Radical Republican faction, who
stipulated that Blair's retirement should follow the withdrawal of
Frémont's name as a candidate for the presidential nomination in that
year. Under his administration such reforms and improvements as the
establishment of free city delivery, the adoption of a money order
system, and the use of railway mail cars were instituted --the last
having been suggested by George B. Armstrong (d. 1871), of Chicago, who
from 1869 until his death was general superintendent of the United
States railway mail service. Differing from the Republican party on the
reconstruction policy, Blair gave his adherence to the Democratic party
after the Civil War. He died at Silver Spring, Maryland, on the 27th of
July 1883.

Another son, FRANCIS PRESTON BLAIR, jun. (1821-1875), soldier and
political leader, was born at Lexington, Kentucky, on the 19th of
February 1821. After graduating at Princeton in 1841 he practised law in
St Louis, and later served in the Mexican War. He was ardently opposed
to the extension of slavery and supported Martin Van Buren, the Free
Soil candidate for the presidency in 1848. He served from 1852 to 1856
in the Missouri legislature as a Free Soil Democrat, in 1856 joined the
Republican party, and in 1857-1860 and 1861-1862 was a member of
Congress, where he proved an able debater. Immediately after South
Carolina's secession, Blair, believing that the southern leaders were
planning to carry Missouri into the movement, began active efforts to
prevent it and personally organized and equipped a secret body of 1000
men to be ready for the emergency. When hostilities became inevitable,
acting in conjunction with Captain (later General) Nathaniel Lyon, he
suddenly transferred the arms in the Federal arsenal at St Louis to
Alton, Illinois, and a few days later (May 10, 1861) surrounded and
captured a force of state guards which had been stationed at Camp
Jackson in the suburbs of St Louis with the intention of seizing the
arsenal. This action gave the Federal cause a decisive initial advantage
in Missouri. Blair was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers in
August 1862 and a major-general in November 1862. In Congress as
chairman of the important military affairs committee his services were
of the greatest value. He commanded a division in the Vicksburg campaign
and in the fighting about Chattanooga, and was one of Sherman's corps
commanders in the final campaigns in Georgia and the Carolinas. In 1866
like his father and brother he opposed the Congressional reconstruction
policy, and on that issue left the Republican party. In 1868 he was the
Democratic candidate for vice-president on the ticket with Horatio
Seymour. In 1871-1873 he was a United States senator from Missouri. He
died in St Louis, on the 8th of July 1875.




BLAIR, HUGH (1718-1800), Scottish Presbyterian divine, was born on the
7th of April 1718, at Edinburgh, where his father was a merchant.
Entering the university in 1730 he graduated M.A. in 1739; his thesis,
_De Fundamentis et Obligations Legis Naturae_, contains an outline of
the moral principles afterwards unfolded in his sermons. He was licensed
to preach in 1741, and a few months later the earl of Leven, hearing of
his eloquence, presented him to the parish of Collessie in Fife. In 1743
he was elected to the second charge of the Canongate church, Edinburgh,
where he ministered until removed to Lady Yester's, one of the city
churches, in 1754. In 1757 the university of St Andrews conferred on him
the degree of D.D., and in the following year he was promoted to the
High Church, Edinburgh, the most important charge in Scotland. In 1759
he began, under the patronage of Lord Kames, to deliver a course of
lectures on composition, the success of which led to the foundation of a
chair of rhetoric and _belles lettres_ in the Edinburgh University. To
this chair he was appointed in 1762, with a salary of £70 a year. Having
long taken interest in the Celtic poetry of the Highlands, he published
in 1763 a laudatory _Dissertation_ on Macpherson's _Ossian_, the
authenticity of which he maintained. In 1777 the first volume of his
_Sermons_ appeared. It was succeeded by four other volumes, all of which
met with the greatest success. Samuel Johnson praised them warmly, and
they were translated into almost every language of Europe. In 1780
George III. conferred upon Blair a pension of £200 a year. In 1783 he
retired from his professorship and published his _Lectures on Rhetoric_,
which have been frequently reprinted. He died on the 27th of December
1800. Blair belonged to the "moderate" or latitudinarian party, and his
_Sermons_ have been criticized as wanting in doctrinal definiteness. His
works display little originality, but are written in a flowing and
elaborate style. He is remembered chiefly by the place he fills in the
literature of his time. _Blair's Sermons_ is a typical religious book of
the period that preceded the Anglican revival.

  See J. Hall, _Account of Life and Writings of Hugh Blair_ (1807).




BLAIR, JAMES (1656-1743), American divine and educationalist, was born
in Scotland, probably at Edinburgh, in 1656. He graduated M.A. at
Edinburgh University in 1673, was beneficed in the Episcopal Church in
Scotland, and for a time was rector of Cranston Parish in the diocese of
Edinburgh. In 1682 he left Scotland for England, and three years later
was sent by the bishop of London, Henry Compton, as a missionary to
Virginia. He soon gained great influence over the colonists both in
ecclesiastical and in civil affairs, and, according to Prof. Moses Coit
Tyler, "probably no other man in the colonial time did so much for the
intellectual life of Virginia." He was the minister of Henrico parish
from 1685 until 1694, of the Jamestown church from 1694 until 1710, and
of Bruton church at Williamsburg from 1710 until his death. From 1689
until his death he was the commissary of the bishop of London for
Virginia, the highest ecclesiastical position in the colony, his duties
consisting "in visiting the parishes, correcting the lives of the
clergy, and keeping them orderly." In 1693, by the appointment of King
William III., he became a member of the council of Virginia, of which he
was for many years the president. Largely because of charges brought
against them by Blair, Governor Sir Edmund Andros, Lieutenant-governor
Francis Nicholson, and Lieutenant-governor Alexander Spotswood were
removed in 1698, 1705 and 1722 respectively. Blair's greatest service to
the colony was rendered as the founder, and the president from 1693
until his death, of the College of William and Mary, for which he
himself secured a charter in England. "Thus, James Blair may be called,"
says Tyler, "the creator of the healthiest and most extensive
intellectual influence that was felt in the Southern group of colonies
before the Revolution." He died on the 18th of April 1743, and was
buried at Jamestown, Va. He published a collection of 117 discourses
under the title _Our Saviour's Divine Sermon on the Mount_ (4 vols.,
1722; second edition, 1732), and, in collaboration with Henry Hartwell
and Edward Chilton, a work entitled _The Present State of Virginia and
the College_ (1727; written in 1693), probably the best account of the
Virginia of that time.

  See Daniel E. Motley's _Life of Commissary James Blair_ (Baltimore,
  1901; series xix. No. 10, of the Johns Hopkins University Studies in
  Historical and Political Science), and, for a short sketch and an
  estimate, M.C. Tyler's _A History of American Literature, 1607-1765_
  (New York, 1878).




BLAIR, ROBERT (1699-1746), Scottish poet, eldest son of the Rev. Robert
Blair, one of the king's chaplains, was born at Edinburgh in 1699. He
was educated at Edinburgh University and in Holland, and in 1731 was
appointed to the living of Athelstaneford in East Lothian. He married in
1738 Isabella, daughter of Professor William Law. The possession of a
small fortune gave him leisure for his favourite pursuits, gardening and
the study of English poets. He died at Athelstaneford on the 4th of
February 1746. His only considerable work, _The Grave_ (1743), is a poem
written in blank verse of great vigour and freshness, and is much less
conventional than its gloomy subject might lead one to expect. Its
religious subject no doubt contributed to its great popularity,
especially in Scotland; but the vogue it attained was justified by its
picturesque imagery and occasional felicity of expression. It inspired
William Blake to undertake a series of twelve illustrative designs,
which were engraved by Louis Schiavonetti, and published in 1808.

  See the biographical introduction prefixed to his _Poetical Works_, by
  Dr Robert Anderson, in his _Poets of Great Britain_, vol. viii.
  (1794.)




BLAIR ATHOLL (Gaelic _blair_, "a plain"), a village and parish of
Perthshire, Scotland, 35¼ m. N.W. of Perth by the Highland railway. Pop.
(1901) 367; of parish, 1722. It is situated at the confluence of the
Tilt and the Garry. The oldest part of Blair Castle, a seat of the duke
of Atholl, dates from 1269; as restored and enlarged in 1869-1872 from
the plans of David Bryce, R.S.A., it is a magnificent example of the
Scottish baronial style. It was occupied by the marquess of Montrose
prior to the battle of Tippermuir in 1644, stormed by the Cromwellians
in 1653, and garrisoned on behalf of James II. in 1689. The Young
Pretender stayed in it in 1743, and the duke of Cumberland in 1746. The
body of Viscount Dundee, conveyed hither from the battlefield of
Killiecrankie, was buried in the church of Old Blair, in which a
monument was erected to his memory in 1889 by the 7th duke of Atholl.
The grounds surrounding the castle are among the most beautiful in the
Highlands. A golf course has been laid down south-east of the village,
between the railway and the Garry, and every September a great display
of Highland games is held. Ben-y-gloe (3671 ft. high), the scene of the
hunt given in 1529 by the earl of Atholl in honour of James V. and the
queen dowager, may be climbed by way of Fender Burn, a left-hand
tributary of the Tilt. The falls of Fender, near the old bridge of Tilt,
are eclipsed by the falls of Bruar, 4 m. west of Blair Atholl, formed by
the Bruar, which, rising in Ben Dearg (3304 ft.), flows into the Garry
after an impetuous course of 10 m.




BLAIRGOWRIE, a police burgh of Perthshire, Scotland, situated on the
Ericht. Pop. (1901) 3378. It is the terminus of a branch line of the
Caledonian railway from Coupar Angus, from which it is 4¾ m. distant,
and is 16 m. N. by E. of Perth by road. The town is entirely modern, and
owes its progress to the water-power supplied by the Ericht for linen
and jute factories. There are also sawmills, breweries and a large
factory for bee appliances. Strawberries, raspberries and other fruits
are largely grown in the neighbourhood. A park was presented to the town
in 1892. On the left bank of the Ericht, opposite Blairgowrie, with
which it is connected by a four-arched bridge, stands the town and
police burgh of Rattray (pop. 2019), where there are flax and jute
mills. Donald Cargill the Covenanter, who was executed at Edinburgh, was
a native of the parish. Four miles west of Blairgowrie, on the coach
road to Dunkeld, lies Loch Clunie, of some interest historically. On a
crannog in the lake are the ruins of a small castle which belonged to
James ("the Admirable") Crichton, and the large mound near the loch was
the site of the castle in which Edward I. lodged on one of his Scottish
expeditions.




BLAKE, EDWARD (1833-   ), Irish-Canadian statesman, eldest son of
William Hume Blake of Cashel Grove, Co. Galway, who settled in Canada in
1832, and there became a distinguished lawyer and chancellor of Ontario,
was born on the 13th of October 1833 at Adelaide in Middlesex county,
Ontario. Educated at Upper Canada College and the university of Toronto,
Blake was called to the bar in 1856 and quickly obtained a good
practice, becoming Q.C. in 1864. In 1867 he was elected member for West
Durham in the Dominion parliament, and for South Bruce in the provincial
legislature, in which he became leader of the Liberal opposition two
years later. On the defeat of John Sandfield Macdonald's government in
1871 Blake became prime minister of Ontario, but resigned this office
the same year in consequence of the abolition of dual representation. He
declined the leadership of the Liberal party in the Dominion parliament,
but, having taken an active part in bringing about the overthrow of Sir
John Macdonald's ministry in 1873, joined the Liberal cabinet of
Alexander Mackenzie, though without portfolio or salary. Impaired health
soon compelled him to resign, and to take the voyage to Europe; on his
return in 1875 he rejoined the cabinet as minister of justice, in which
office it fell to him to take the chief part in framing the constitution
of the supreme court of Canada. Continued ill-health compelled him in
1877 again to seek rest in Europe, having first exchanged the portfolio
of justice for the less exacting office of president of the council.
During his absence the Liberal government was driven from power by the
elections of 1878; and Blake himself, having failed to secure
re-election, was for a short time without a seat in parliament. From
1880 to 1887 he was leader of the opposition, being succeeded on his
resignation of the position in the latter year by Mr (afterwards Sir)
Wilfrid Laurier. In 1892 he became a member of the British House of
Commons as an Irish Nationalist, being elected for South Longford. But
he did not fulfil the expectations which had been formed on the strength
of his colonial reputation; he took no very prominent part in debate,
and gave little evidence of his undoubted oratorical gifts. In 1907 he
retired from public life. In 1858 he had married Margaret, daughter of
Benjamin Cronyn, first bishop of Huron.

  See John Charles Dent, _The Last Forty Years: Canada Since the Union
  of 1841_ (2 vols., Toronto, 1881); J.S. Willison, _Sir Wilfrid Laurier
  and the Liberal Party_ (2 vols., London, 1904).




BLAKE, ROBERT (1509-1657), English parliamentarian and admiral, was born
at Bridgwater in Somersetshire. The day of his birth is not known, but
he was baptized on the 27th of September 1599. Blake was the eldest son
of a well-to-do merchant, and received his early education at the
grammar school of Bridgwater. In 1615 he was sent to Oxford, entering at
first St Alban's Hall, but removing afterwards to Wadham College, then
recently founded. He remained at the university till 1625, but failed to
obtain any college preferment. Nothing is known of his life with
certainty for the next fifteen years. An anonymous Dutch writer, in the
_Hollandische Mercurius_ (1652), represents him as saying that he had
lived in Schiedam "for five or six years" in his youth. He doubtless
engaged in trade, and apparently with success. When, after eleven years
of kingship without parliaments, a parliament was summoned to meet in
April 1640, Blake was elected to represent his native borough. This
parliament, named "the Short," was dissolved in three weeks, and the
career of Blake as a politician was suspended. Two years later the
inevitable conflict began. Blake declared for the Parliament, and served
under Sir John Horner. In 1643 he was entrusted with the command of one
of the forts of Bristol. This he stoutly held during the siege of the
town by Prince Rupert, and earned the approval of parliament by refusing
to surrender his post till duly informed of the capitulation. In 1644 he
gained high distinction by the resolute defence of Lyme in Dorsetshire.
The siege was raised on the 23rd of May, and on the 8th of July Blake
took Taunton by surprise, and notwithstanding its imperfect defences and
inadequate supplies, held the town for the Parliament against two sieges
by the Royalists until July 1645, when it was relieved by Fairfax. In
1645 he re-entered parliament as member for Taunton, when the Royalist
Colonel Windham was expelled.

He adhered to the Parliamentary party after the king's death, and within
a month (February 1649) was appointed, with Colonels Dean and Popham, to
the command of the fleet, under the title of General of the Sea. In
April he was sent in pursuit of Prince Rupert, who with the Royalist
fleet had entered the harbour of Kinsale in Ireland. There he blockaded
the prince for six months; and when the latter, in want of provisions,
and hopeless of relief, succeeded in making his escape with the fleet
and in reaching the Tagus, Blake followed him thither, and again
blockaded him for some months. The king of Portugal refusing permission
for Blake to attack his enemy, the latter made reprisals by falling on
the Portuguese fleet, richly laden, returning from Brazil. He captured
seventeen ships and burnt three, bringing his prizes home without
molestation. After revictualling his fleet, he sailed again, captured a
French man-of-war, and then pursued Prince Rupert, who had been asked to
go away by the Portuguese and had entered the Mediterranean. In November
1650 Blake destroyed the bulk of the Royalist squadron near Cartagena.
The thanks of parliament were voted to Blake, and he received a grant of
£1000. He was continued in his office of admiral and general of the sea;
and in May following he took, in conjunction with Ayscue, the Scilly
Islands. For this service the thanks of parliament were again awarded
him, and he was soon after made a member of the council of state.

In 1652 war broke out with the Dutch, who had made great preparations
for the conflict. In March the command of the fleet was given to Blake
for nine months; and in the middle of May the Dutch fleet of forty-five
ships, led by their great admiral Tromp, appeared in the Downs. Blake,
who had only twenty ships, sailed to meet them, and the battle took
place off Dover on the 19th of May. The Dutch were defeated in an
engagement of four or five hours, lost two ships, and withdrew under
cover of darkness. Attempts at accommodation were made by the states,
but they failed. Early in July war was formally declared, and in the
same month Blake captured a large part of the Dutch fishery-fleet and
the twelve men-of-war that formed their convoy. On the 28th of September
Blake and Penn again encountered the Dutch fleet, now commanded by De
Ruyter and De Witt, off the Kentish Knock, defeated it, and chased it
for two days. The Dutch took refuge in Goree. A third battle was fought
near the end of November. By this time the ships under Blake's command
had been reduced in number to forty, and nearly the half of these were
useless for want of seamen. Tromp, who had been reinstated in command,
appeared in the Downs, with a fleet of eighty ships besides ten
fireships. Blake, nevertheless, risked a battle off Dungeness, but was
defeated, and withdrew into the Thames. The English fleet having been
refitted, put to sea again in February 1653; and on the 18th Blake, at
the head of eighty ships, encountered Tromp in the Channel. The Dutch
force, according to Clarendon, numbered 100 ships of war, but according
to the official reports of the Dutch, only seventy. The battle was
severe, and continued through three days, the Dutch, however,
retreating, and taking refuge in the shallow waters off the French
coast. In this action Blake was severely wounded. The three English
admirals put to sea again in May; and on the 3rd and 4th of June another
battle was fought near the North Foreland. On the first day Dean and
Monk were repulsed by Tromp; but on the second day the scales were
turned by the arrival of Blake, and the Dutch retreated to the Texel.

Ill-health now compelled Blake to retire from the service for a time,
and he did not appear again on the seas for about eighteen months;
meanwhile he sat as a member of the Little Parliament (Barebones's). In
November 1654 he was selected by Cromwell to conduct a fleet to the
Mediterranean to exact compensation from the duke of Tuscany, the
knights of Malta, and the piratical states of North Africa, for wrongs
done to English merchants. This mission he executed with his accustomed
spirit and with complete success. Tunis alone dared to resist his
demands, and Tunis paid the penalty of the destruction of its two
fortresses by English guns. In the winter of 1655-1656, war being
declared against Spain, Blake was sent to cruise off Cadiz and the
neighbouring coasts, to intercept the Spanish shipping. One of his
captains captured a part of the Plate fleet in September 1656. In April
1657 Blake, then in very ill health, suffering from dropsy and scurvy,
and anxious to have assistance in his arduous duties, heard that the
Plate fleet lay at anchor in the bay of Santa Cruz, in the island of
Teneriffe. The position was a very strong one, defended by a castle and
several forts with guns. Under the shelter of these lay a fleet of
sixteen ships drawn up in crescent order. Captain Stayner was ordered to
enter the bay and fall on the fleet. This he did. Blake followed him.
Broadsides were poured into the castle and the forts at the same time;
and soon nothing was left but ruined walls and charred fragments of
burnt ships. The wind was blowing hard into the bay; but suddenly, and
fortunately for the heroic Blake, it shifted, and carried him safely out
to sea. "The whole action," says Clarendon, "was so incredible that all
men who knew the place wondered that any sober man, with what courage
soever endowed, would ever have undertaken it; and they could hardly
persuade themselves to believe what they had done; while the Spaniards
comforted themselves with the belief that they were devils and not men
who had destroyed them in such a manner." The English lost one ship and
200 men killed and wounded. The thanks of parliament were voted to
officers and men; and a very costly jewel (diamond ring) was presented
to Blake, "as a testimony," says Cromwell in his letter of 10th June,
"of our own and the parliament's good acceptance of your carriage in
this action." "This was the last action of the brave Blake."

After again cruising for a time off Cadiz, his health failing more and
more, he was compelled to make homewards before the summer was over. He
died at sea, but within sight of Plymouth, on the 17th of August 1657.
His body was brought to London and embalmed, and after lying in state at
Greenwich House was interred with great pomp and solemnity in
Westminster Abbey. In 1661 Charles II. ordered the exhumation of
Blake's body, with those of the mother and daughter of Cromwell and
several others. They were cast out of the abbey, and were reburied in
the churchyard of St Margaret's. "But that regard," says Johnson, "which
was denied his body has been paid to his better remains, his name and
his memory. Nor has any writer dared to deny him the praise of
intrepidity, honesty, contempt of wealth, and love of his country."
Clarendon bears the following testimony to his excellence as a
commander:--"He was the first man that declined the old track, and made
it apparent that the science might be attained in less time than was
imagined. He was the first man that brought ships to contemn castles on
the shore, which had ever been thought very formidable, but were
discovered by him to make a noise only, and to fright those who could be
rarely hurt by them."

  A life of Blake is included in the work entitled _Lives, English and
  Foreign_. Dr Johnson wrote a short life of him, and in 1852 appeared
  Hepworth Dixon's fuller narrative, _Robert Blake, Admiral and General
  at Sea_. Much new matter for the biography of Blake will be found in
  the _Letters and Papers Relating to the First Dutch War_, edited by
  S.R. Gardiner for the Navy Records Society (1898-1899.)




BLAKE, WILLIAM (1757-1827), English poet and painter, was born in
London, on the 28th of November 1757. His father, James Blake, kept a
hosier's shop in Broad Street, Golden Square; and from the scanty
education which the young artist received, it may be judged that the
circumstances of the family were not very prosperous. For the facts of
William Blake's early life the world is indebted to a little book,
called _A Father's Memoirs on a Child_, written by Dr Malkin in 1806.
Here we learn that young Blake quickly developed a taste for design,
which his father appears to have had sufficient intelligence to
recognize and assist by every means in his power. At the age of ten the
boy was sent to a drawing school kept by Henry Pars in the Strand, and
at the same time he was already cultivating his own taste by constant
attendance at the different art sale rooms, where he was known as the
"little connoisseur." Here he began to collect prints after
Michelangelo, and Raphael, Dürer and Heemskerk, while at the school in
the Strand he had the opportunity of drawing from the antique. After
four years of this preliminary instruction Blake entered upon another
branch of art study. In 1777 he was apprenticed to James Basire, an
engraver of repute, and with him he remained seven years. His
apprenticeship had an important bearing on Blake's artistic education,
and marks the department of art in which he was made technically
proficient. In 1778, at the end of his apprenticeship, he proceeded to
the school of the Royal Academy, where he continued his early study from
the antique, and had for the first time an opportunity of drawing from
the living model.

This is in brief all that is known of Blake's artistic education. That
he ever, at the academy or elsewhere, systematically studied painting we
do not know; but that he had already begun the practice of water colour
for himself is ascertained. So far, however, the course of his training
in art schools, and under Basire, was calculated to render him
proficient only as a draughtsman and an engraver. He had learned how to
draw, and he had mastered besides the practical difficulties of
engraving, and with these qualifications he entered upon his career. In
1780 he exhibited a picture in the Royal Academy Exhibition, conjectured
to have been executed in water colours, and he continued to contribute
to the annual exhibitions up to the year 1808. In 1782 he married
Catherine Boucher, the daughter of a market-gardener at Battersea, with
whom he lived always on affectionate terms, and the young couple after
their marriage established themselves in Green Street, Leicester Fields.
Blake had already become acquainted with some of the rising artists of
his time, amongst them Stothard, Flaxman and Fuseli, and he now began to
see something of literary society. At the house of the Rev. Henry
Mathew, in Rathbone Place, he used to recite and sometimes to sing poems
of his own composition, and it was through the influence of this
gentleman, combined with that of Flaxman, that Blake's first volume of
poetry was printed and published in 1783. From this time forward the
artist came before the world in a double capacity. By education as well
as native talent, he was pledged to the life of a painter, and these
_Poetical Sketches_, though they are often no more than the utterances
of a boy, are no less decisive in marking Blake as a future poet.

For a while the two gifts are exhibited in association. To the close of
his life Blake continued to print and publish, after a manner of his
own, the inventions of his verse illustrated by original designs, but
there is a certain period in his career when the union of the two gifts
is peculiarly close, and when their service to one another is
unquestionable. In 1784 Blake, moving from Green Street, set up in
company with a fellow-pupil, Parker, as print-seller and engraver next
to his father's house in Broad Street, Golden Square, but in 1787 this
partnership was severed, and he established an independent business in
Poland Street. It was from this house, and in 1787, that the _Songs of
Innocence_ were published, a work that must always be remarkable for
beauty both of verse and of design, as well as for the singular method
by which the two were combined and expressed by the artist. Blake became
in fact his own printer and publisher. He engraved upon copper, by a
process devised by himself, both the text of his poems and the
surrounding decorative design, and to the pages printed from the copper
plates an appropriate colouring was afterwards added by hand. The poetic
genius already discernible in the first volume of _Poetical Sketches_ is
here more decisively expressed, and some of the songs in this volume
deserve to take rank with the best things of their kind in our
literature. In an age of enfeebled poetic style, when Wordsworth, with
more weighty apparatus, had as yet scarcely begun his reform of English
versification, Blake, unaided by any contemporary influence, produced a
work of fresh and living beauty; and if the _Songs of Innocence_
established Blake's claim to the title of poet, the setting in which
they were given to the world proved that he was also something more. For
the full development of his artistic powers we have to wait till a later
date, but here at least he exhibits a just and original understanding of
the sources of decorative beauty. Each page of these poems is a study of
design, full of invention, and often wrought with the utmost delicacy of
workmanship. The artist retained to the end this feeling for decorative
effect; but as time went on, he considerably enlarged the imaginative
scope of his work, and decoration then became the condition rather than
the aim of his labour.

Notwithstanding the distinct and precious qualities of this volume, it
attracted but slight attention, a fact perhaps not very wonderful, when
the system of publication is taken into account. Blake, however,
proceeded with other work of the same kind. The same year he published
_The Book of Thel_, more decidedly mystic in its poetry, but scarcely
less beautiful as a piece of illumination; _The Marriage of Heaven and
Hell_ followed in 1790; and in 1793 there are added _The Gates of
Paradise_, _The Vision of the Daughters of Albion_, and some other
"Prophetic Books." It becomes abundantly clear on reaching this point in
his career that Blake's utterances cannot be judged by ordinary rules.
The _Songs of Experience_, put forth in 1794 as a companion to the
earlier _Songs of Innocence_, are for the most part intelligible and
coherent, but in these intervening works of prophecy, as they were
called by the author, we get the first public expression of that phase
of his character and of his genius upon which a charge of insanity has
been founded. The question whether Blake was or was not mad seems likely
to remain in dispute, but there can be no doubt whatever that he was at
different periods of his life under the influence of illusions for which
there are no outward facts to account, and that much of what he wrote is
so far wanting in the quality of sanity as to be without a logical
coherence. On the other hand, it is equally clear that no madness
imputed to Blake could equal that which would be involved in the
rejection of his work on this ground. The greatness of Blake's mind is
even better established than its frailty, and in considering the work
that he has left we must remember that it is by the sublimity of his
genius, and not by any mental defect, that he is most clearly
distinguished from his fellows. With the publication of the _Songs of
Experience_ Blake's poetic career, so far at least as ordinary readers
are concerned, may be said to close. A writer of prophecy he continued
for many years, but the works by which he is best known in poetry are
those earlier and simpler efforts, supplemented by a few pieces taken
from various sources, some of which were of later production. But
although Blake the poet ceases in a general sense at this date, Blake
the artist is only just entering upon his career. In the _Songs of
Innocence_ and _Experience_, and even in some of the earlier _Books of
Prophecy_, the two gifts worked together in perfect balance and harmony;
but at this point the supremacy of the artistic faculty asserts itself,
and for the remainder of his life Blake was pre-eminently a designer and
engraver. The labour of poetical composition continues, but the product
passes beyond the range of general comprehension; while, with apparent
inconsistency, the work of the artist gains steadily in strength and
coherence, and never to the last loses its hold upon the understanding.
It may almost be said without exaggeration that his earliest poetic
work, _The Songs of Innocence_, and nearly his latest effort in design,
the illustrations to _The Book of Job_, take rank among the sanest and
most admirable products of his genius. Nor is the fact, astonishing
enough at first sight, quite beyond a possible explanation. As Blake
advanced in his poetic career, he was gradually hindered and finally
overpowered by a tendency that was most serviceable to him in design.
His inclination to substitute a symbol for a conception, to make an
image do duty for an idea, became an insuperable obstacle to literary
success. He endeavoured constantly to treat the intellectual material of
verse as if it could be moulded into sensuous form, with the inevitable
result that as the ideas to be expressed advanced in complexity and
depth of meaning, his poetic gifts became gradually more inadequate to
the task of interpretation. The earlier poems dealing with simpler
themes, and put forward at a time when the bent of the artist's mind was
not strictly determined, do not suffer from this difficulty; the
symbolism then only enriches an idea of no intellectual intricacy; but
when Blake began to concern himself with profounder problems the want of
a more logical understanding of language made itself strikingly
apparent. If his ways of thought and modes of workmanship had not been
developed with an intensity almost morbid, he would probably have been
able to distinguish and keep separate the double functions of art and
literature. As it is, however, he remains as an extreme illustration of
the ascendancy of the artistic faculty. For this tendency to translate
ideas into image, and to find for every thought, however simple or
sublime, a precise and sensuous form, is of the essence of pure artistic
invention. If this be accepted as the dominant bent of Blake's genius,
it is not so wonderful that his work in art should have strengthened in
proportion as his poetic powers waned; but whether the explanation
satisfies all the requirements of the case or not, the fact remains, and
cannot be overlooked by any student of Blake's career.

In 1796 Blake was actively employed in the work of illustration.
Edwards, a bookseller of New Bond Street, projected a new edition of
Young's _Night Thoughts_, and Blake was chosen to illustrate the work.
It was to have been issued in parts, but for some reason not very clear
the enterprise failed, and only a first part, including forty-three
designs, was given to the world. These designs were engraved by Blake
himself, and they are interesting not only for their own merit but for
the peculiar system by which the illustration has been associated with
the text. It was afterwards discovered that the artist had executed
original designs in water-colour for the whole series, and these
drawings, 537 in number, form one of the most interesting records of
Blake's genius. Gilchrist, the painter's biographer, in commenting upon
the engraved plates, regrets the absence of colour, "the use of which
Blake so well understood, to relieve his simple design and give it
significance," and an examination of the original water-colour drawings
fully supports the justice of his criticism. Soon after the publication
of this work Blake was introduced by Flaxman to the poet Hayley, and in
the year 1801 he accepted the suggestion of the latter, that he should
take up his residence at Felpham in Sussex. The mild and amiable poet
had planned to write a life of Cowper, and for the illustration of this
and other works he sought Blake's help and companionship. The residence
at Felpham continued for three years, partly pleasant and partly irksome
to Blake, but apparently not very profitable to the progress of his art.
One of the annoyances of his stay was a malicious prosecution for
treason set on foot by a common soldier whom Blake had summarily ejected
from his garden; but a more serious drawback was the increasing
irritation which the painter seems to have experienced from association
with Hayley. In 1804 Blake returned to London, to take up his residence
in South Moulton Street, and as the fruit of his residence in Felpham,
he published, in the manner already described, the prophetic books
called the _Jerusalem_, _The Emanation of the Giant Albion_, and
_Milton_. The first of these is a very notable performance in regard to
artistic invention. Many of the designs stand out from the text in
complete independence, and are now and then of the very finest quality.

In the years 1804-1805 Blake executed a series of designs in
illustration of Robert Blair's _The Grave_, of much beauty and grandeur,
though showing stronger traces of imitation of Italian art than any
earlier production. These designs were purchased from the artist by an
adventurous and unscrupulous publisher, Cromek, for the paltry sum of
£21, and afterwards published in a series of engravings by Schiavonetti.
Despite the ill treatment Blake received in the matter, and the other
evils, including a quarrel with his friend Stothard as to priority of
invention of a design illustrating the Canterbury Pilgrims, which his
association with Cromek involved, the book gained for him a larger
amount of popularity than he at any other time secured. Stothard's
picture of the Canterbury Pilgrims was exhibited in 1807, and in 1809
Blake, in emulation of his rival's success, having himself painted in
water-colour a picture of the same subject, opened an exhibition, and
drew up a _Descriptive Catalogue_, curious and interesting, and
containing a very valuable criticism of Chaucer.

The remainder of the artist's life is not outwardly eventful. In 1813 he
formed, through the introduction of George Cumberland of Bristol, a
valuable friendship with John Linnell and other rising water-colour
painters. Amongst the group Blake seems to have found special sympathy
in the society of John Varley, who, himself addicted to astrology,
encouraged Blake to cultivate his gift of inspired vision; and it is
probably to this influence that we are indebted for several curious
drawings made from visions, especially the celebrated "ghost of a flea"
and the very humorous portrait of the builder of the Pyramids. In 1821
Blake removed to Fountain Court, in the Strand, where he died on the
12th of August 1827. The chief work of these last years was the splendid
series of engraved designs in illustration of the book of Job. Here we
find the highest imaginative qualities of Blake's art united to the
technical means of expression which he best understood. Both the
invention and the engraving are in all ways remarkable, and the series
may fairly be cited in support of a very high estimate of his genius.
None of his works is without the trace of that peculiar artistic
instinct and power which seizes the pictorial element of ideas, simple
or sublime, and translates them into the appropriate language of sense;
but here the double faculty finds the happiest exercise. The grandeur of
the theme is duly reflected in the simple and sublime images of the
artist's design, and in the presence of these plates we are made to feel
the power of the artist over the expressional resources of human form,
as well as his sympathy with the imaginative significance of his
subject.

  A life of Blake, with selections from his works, by Alexander
  Gilchrist, was published in 1863 (new edition by W.G. Robertson,
  1906); in 1868 A.C. Swinburne published a critical essay on his
  genius, remarkable for a full examination of the Prophetic Books, and
  in 1874 William Michael Rossetti published a memoir prefixed to an
  edition of the poems. In 1893 appeared _The Works of William Blake_,
  edited by E.J. Ellis and W.B. Yeats. But for a long time all the
  editors paid too little attention to a correct following of Blake's
  own MSS. The text of the poems was finally edited with exemplary care
  and thoroughness by John Sampson in his edition of the _Poetical
  Works_ (1905), which has rescued Blake from the "improvements" of
  previous editors. See also _The Letters of_ ~~ _William Blake,
  together with a Life by Frederick Tatham_; edited by A.G.B. Russell
  (1906); and Basil de Selincourt, _William Blake_ (1909).
       (J. C. C.)




BLAKELOCK, RALPH ALBERT (1847-   ), American painter, was born in New
York, on the 15th of October, 1847. He graduated at the College of the
City of New York in 1867. In art he was self-taught and markedly
original. Until ill-health necessitated the abandonment of his
profession, he was a most prolific worker, his subjects including
pictures of North American Indian life, and landscapes--notably such
canvases as "The Indian Fisherman"; "Ta-wo-koka: or Circle Dance";
"Silvery Moonlight"; "A Waterfall by Moonlight"; "Solitude"; and
"Moonlight on Long Island Sound."




BLAKENEY, WILLIAM BLAKENEY, BARON (1672-1761), British soldier, was born
at Mount Blakeney in Limerick in 1672. Destined by his father for
politics, he soon showed a decided preference for a military career, and
at the age of eighteen headed the tenants in defending the Blakeney
estate against the Rapparees. As a volunteer he went to the war in
Flanders, and at the siege of Venlo in 1702 won his commission. He
served as a subaltern throughout Marlborough's campaigns, and is said to
have been the first to drill troops by signal of drum or colour. For
many years after the peace of Utrecht he served unnoticed, and was
sixty-five years of age before he became a colonel. This neglect, which
was said to be due to the hostility of Lord Verney, ceased when the duke
of Richmond was appointed colonel of Blakeney's regiment, and
thenceforward his advance was rapid. Brigadier-general in the Cartagena
expedition of 1741, and major-general a little later, he distinguished
himself by his gallant and successful defence of Stirling Castle against
the Highlanders in 1745. Two years later George II. made him
lieutenant-general and lieutenant-governor of Minorca. The governor of
that island never set foot in it, and Blakeney was left in command for
ten years.

In 1756 the Seven Years' War was preluded by a swift descent of the
French on Minorca. Fifteen thousand troops under marshal the duc de
Richelieu, escorted by a strong squadron under the marquis de la
Gallisonnière, landed on the island on the 18th of April, and at once
began the siege of Fort St Philip, where Blakeney commanded at most some
5000 soldiers and workmen. The defence, in spite of crumbling walls and
rotted gun platforms, had already lasted a month when a British fleet
under vice-admiral the Hon. John Byng appeared. La Gallisonnière and
Byng fought, on the 20th of May, an indecisive battle, after which the
relieving squadron sailed away and Blakeney was left to his fate. A
second expedition subsequently appeared off Minorca, but it was then too
late, for after a heroic resistance of seventy-one days the old general
had been compelled to surrender the fort to Richelieu (April 18-June 28,
1756). Only the ruined fortifications were the prize of the victors.
Blakeney and his little garrison were transported to Gibraltar with
absolute liberty to serve again. Byng was tried and executed; Blakeney,
on his return to England, found himself the hero of the nation. Rewards
came freely to the veteran. He was made colonel of the Enniskillen
regiment of infantry, knight of the Bath, and Baron Blakeney of Mount
Blakeney in the Irish peerage. A little later Van Most's statue of him
was erected in Dublin, and his popularity continued unabated for the
short remainder of his life. He died on the 20th of September 1761, and
was buried in Westminster Abbey.

  See _Memoirs of General William Blakeney_ (1757).




BLAKESLEY, JOSEPH WILLIAMS (1808-1885), English divine, was born in
London on the 6th of March 1808, and was educated at St Paul's school,
London, and at Corpus Christi and Trinity Colleges, Cambridge. In 1831
he was elected a fellow, and in 1839 a tutor of Trinity. In 1833 he took
holy orders, and from 1845 to 1872 held the college living of Ware,
Hertfordshire. Over the signature "Hertfordshire Incumbent" he
contributed a large number of letters to _The Times_ on the leading
social and political subjects of the day, and he also wrote many reviews
of books for that paper. In 1863 he was made a canon of Canterbury, and
in 1872 dean of Lincoln. Dean Blakesley was the author of the first
English _Life of Aristotle_ (1839), an edition of Herodotus (1852-1854)
in the _Bibliotheca Classica_, and _Four Months in Algeria_ (1859). He
died on the 18th of April 1885.




BLAMIRE, SUSANNA (1747-1794), English poet, daughter of a Cumberland
yeoman, was born at Cardew Hall, near Dalston, in January 1747. Her
mother died while she was a child, and she was brought up by her aunt, a
Mrs Simpson of Thackwood, who sent her niece to the village school at
Raughton Head. Susanna Blamire's earliest poem is "Written in a
Churchyard, on seeing a number of cattle grazing," in imitation of Gray.
She lived an uneventful life among the farmers of the neighbourhood, and
her gaiety and good-humour made her a favourite in rustic society. In
1767 her elder sister Sarah married Colonel Graham of Gartmore. "An
Epistle to her friends at Gartmore" gives a playful description of the
monotonous simplicity of her life. To her Perthshire visits her songs in
the Scottish vernacular are no doubt partly due. Her chief friend was
Catharine Gilpin of Scaleby Castle. The two ladies spent the winters
together in Carlisle, and wrote poems in common. Susanna Blamire died in
Carlisle on the 5th of April 1794. The poems which were not collected
during her lifetime, were first published in 1842 by Henry Lonsdale as
_The Poetical Works of Miss Susanna Blamire, "the Muse of Cumberland,"_
with a memoir by Mr Patrick Maxwell. Some of her songs rank among the
very best of north-country lyrics. "And ye shall walk in silk attire"
and "What ails this heart o' mine," are well known, and were included in
Johnson's _Scots' Musical Museum_.




BLANC, (JEAN JOSEPH CHARLES) LOUIS (1811-1882), French politician and
historian, was born on the 29th of October 1811 at Madrid, where his
father held the post of inspector-general of finance under Joseph
Bonaparte. Failing to receive aid from Pozzo di Borgo, his mother's
uncle, Louis Blanc studied law in Paris, living in poverty, and became a
contributor to various journals. In the _Revue du progrès_, which he
founded, he published in 1839 his study on _L'Organisation du travail_.
The principles laid down in this famous essay form the key to Louis
Blanc's whole political career. He attributes all the evils that afflict
society to the pressure of competition, whereby the weaker are driven to
the wall. He demanded the equalization of wages, and the merging of
personal interests in the common good--"_à chacun selon ses besoins, de
chacun selon ses facultés_." This was to be effected by the
establishment of "social workshops," a sort of combined co-operative
society and trade-union, where the workmen in each trade were to unite
their efforts for their common benefit. In 1841 he published his
_Histoire de dix ans 1830-1840_, an attack upon the monarchy of July. It
ran through four editions in four years.

In 1847 he published the two first volumes of his _Histoire de la
Revolution Française_. Its publication was interrupted by the revolution
of 1848, when Louis Blanc became a member of the provisional government.
It was on his motion that, on the 25th of February, the government
undertook "to guarantee the existence of the workmen by work"; and
though his demand for the establishment of a ministry of labour was
refused--as beyond the competence of a provisional government--he was
appointed to preside over the government labour commission (_Commission
du Gouvernement pour les travailleurs_) established at the Luxembourg to
inquire into and report on the labour question. On the 10th of May he
renewed, in the National Assembly, his proposal for a ministry of
labour, but the temper of the majority was hostile to socialism, and the
proposal was again rejected. His responsibility for the disastrous
experiment of the national workshops he himself denied in his _Appel aux
honnêtes gens_ (Paris, 1849), written in London after his flight; but by
the insurgent mob of the 15th of May and by the victorious Moderates
alike he was regarded as responsible. Between the _sansculottes_, who
tried to force him to place himself at their head, and the national
guards, who maltreated him, he was nearly done to death. Rescued with
difficulty, he escaped with a false passport to Belgium, and thence to
London; in his absence he was condemned by the special tribunal
established at Bourges, _in contumaciam_, to deportation. Against trial
and sentence he alike protested, developing his protest in a series of
articles in the _Nouveau Monde_, a review published in Paris under his
direction. These he afterwards collected and published as _Pages de
l'histoire de la revolution de 1848_ (Brussels, 1850).

During his stay in England he made use of the unique collection of
materials for the revolutionary period preserved at the British Museum
to complete his _Histoire de la Révolution Française_ 12 vols.
(1847-1862). In 1858 he published a reply to Lord Normanby's _A Year of
Revolution in Paris_ (1858), which he developed later into his _Histoire
de la révolution de 1848_ (2 vols., 1870-1880). As far back as 1839
Louis Blanc had vehemently opposed the idea of a Napoleonic restoration,
predicting that it would be "despotism without glory," "the Empire
without the Emperor." He therefore remained in exile till the fall of
the Second Empire in September 1870, after which he returned to Paris
and served as a private in the national guard. On the 8th of February
1871 he was elected a member of the National Assembly, in which he
maintained that the republic was "the necessary form of national
sovereignty," and voted for the continuation of the war; yet, though a
member of the extreme Left, he was too clear-minded to sympathize with
the Commune, and exerted his influence in vain on the side of
moderation. In 1878 he advocated the abolition of the presidency and the
senate. In January 1879 he introduced into the chamber a proposal for
the amnesty of the Communists, which was carried. This was his last
important act. His declining years were darkened by ill-health and by
the death, in 1876, of his wife (Christina Groh), an Englishwoman whom
he had married in 1865. He died at Cannes on the 6th of December 1882,
and on the 12th of December received a state funeral in the cemetery of
Père-Lachaise.

Louis Blanc possessed a picturesque and vivid style, and considerable
power of research; but the fervour with which he expressed his
convictions, while placing him in the first rank of orators, tended to
turn his historical writings into political pamphlets. His political and
social ideas have had a great influence on the development of socialism
in France. His _Discours politiques_ (1847-1881) was published in 1882.
His most important works, besides those already mentioned, are _Lettres
sur l'Angleterre_ (1866-1867), _Dix années de l'histoire de
l'Angleterre_ (1879-1881), and _Questions d'aujourd'hui et de demain_
(1873-1884).

  See L. Fiaux, _Louis Blanc_ (1883).




BLANC, MONT, the culminating point (15,782 ft.) of the mountain range of
the same name, which forms part of the Pennine Alps, and is divided
unequally between France, Italy and Switzerland. The actual highest
summit is wholly French and is the loftiest peak in the Alps, and in
Europe also, if certain peaks in the Caucasus be excluded. At Geneva the
mountain was in former days named the Montagne Maudite, but the present
name seems to have been always used locally. On the north is the valley
of Chamonix, and on the east the head of the valley of Aosta. Among the
great glaciers which stream from the peak the most noteworthy are those
of Bossons and Taconnaz (northern slope) and of Brenva and Miage
(southern slope). The first ascent was made in 1786 by two Chamonix men,
Jacques Balmat and Dr Michel Paccard, and the second in 1787 by Balmat
with two local men. Later in 1787 H.B. de Saussure made the third
ascent, memorable in many respects, and was followed a week later by
Colonel Beaufoy, the first Englishman to gain the top. These ascents
were all made from Chamonix, which is still the usual starting point,
though routes have been forced up the peak from nearly every side, those
on the Italian side being much steeper than that from Chamonix. The
ascent from Chamonix is now frequently made in summer (rarely in winter
also), but, owing to the great height of the mountain, the view is
unsatisfactory, though very extensive (Lyons is visible). There is an
inn at the Grands Mulets (9909 ft.). In 1890 M. Vallot built an
observatory and shelter hut (14,312 ft.) on the Bosses du Dromadaire
(north-west ridge of the mountain), and in 1893 T.J.C. Janssen
constructed an observatory just below the very summit.

  See C. Durier, _Le Mont Blanc_ (4th ed., Paris, 1897); C.E. Mathews,
  _The Annals of Mont Blanc_ (London, 1898); P. Güssfeldt, _Der
  Montblanc_, (Berlin, 1894, also a French translation, Geneva, 1899);
  L. Kurz, _Climbers' Guide to the Chain of Mont Blanc_, section vi.
  (London, 1892); L. Kurz and X. Imfeld, _Carte de la chaine du Mont
  Blanc_ (1896, new edition 1905).     (W. A. B. C.)




BLANCHARD, SAMUEL LAMAN (1804-1845), British author and journalist, the
son of a painter and glazier, was born at Great Yarmouth on the 15th of
May 1804. He was educated at St Olave's school, Southwark, and then
became clerk to a proctor in Doctors' Commons. At an early age he
developed literary tastes, contributing dramatic sketches to a paper
called _Drama_. For a short time he was a member of a travelling
dramatic company, but subsequently became a proof-reader in London, and
wrote for the _Monthly Magazine_. In 1827 he was made secretary of the
Zoological Society, a post which he held for three years. In 1828 he
published _Lyric Offerings_, dedicated to Charles Lamb. He had a very
varied journalistic experience, editing in succession the _Monthly
Magazine_, the _True Sun_, the _Constitutional_, the _Court Journal_,
the _Courier_, and _George Cruikshank's Omnibus_; and from 1841 till his
death he was connected with the _Examiner_. In 1846 Bulwer-Lytton
collected a number of his prose-essays under the title _Sketches of
Life_, to which a memoir of the author was prefixed. His verse was
collected in 1876 by Blanchard Jerrold. Over-work broke down his
strength, and, unnerved by the death of his wife, he died by his own
hand on the 15th of February 1845.

His eldest son, SIDNEY LAMAN BLANCHARD, who was the author of _Yesterday
and To-day in India_, died in 1883.




BLANCHE, JACQUES ÉMILE (1861-   ), French painter, was born in Paris. He
enjoyed an excellent cosmopolitan education, and was brought up at Passy
in a house once belonging to the princesse de Lamballe, which still
retained the atmosphere of 18th-century elegance and refinement and
influenced his taste and work. Although he received some instruction in
painting from Gervex, he may be regarded as self-taught. He acquired a
great reputation as a portrait painter; his art is derived from French
and English sources, refined, sometimes super-elegant, but full of
character. Among his chief works are his portraits of his father, of
Pierre Louÿs, the Thaulow family, Aubrey Beardsley and Yvette Guilbert.




BLANCHE OF CASTILE (1188-1252), wife of Louis VIII. of France, third
daughter of Alphonso VIII., king of Castile, and of Eleanor of England,
daughter of Henry II., was born at Valencia. In consequence of a treaty
between Philip Augustus and John of England, she was betrothed to the
former's son, Louis, and was brought to France, in the spring of 1200,
by John's mother Eleanor. On the 22nd of May 1200 the treaty was finally
signed, John ceding with his niece the fiefs of Issoudun and Graçay,
together with those that André de Chavigny, lord of Châteauroux, held in
Berry, of the English crown. The marriage was celebrated the next day,
at Portmort on the right bank of the Seine, in John's domains, as those
of Philip lay under an interdict.

Blanche first displayed her great qualities in 1216, when Louis, who on
the death of John claimed the English crown in her right, invaded
England, only to find a united nation against him. Philip Augustus
refused to help his son, and Blanche was his sole support. The queen
established herself at Calais and organized two fleets, one of which was
commanded by Eustace the Monk, and an army under Robert of Courtenay;
but all her resolution and energy were in vain. Although it would seem
that her masterful temper exercised a sensible influence upon her
husband's gentler character, her role during his reign (1223-1226) is
not well known. Upon his death he left Blanche regent and guardian of
his children. Of her twelve or thirteen children, six had died, and
Louis, the heir--afterwards the sainted Louis IX.,--was but twelve years
old. The situation was critical, for the hard-won domains of the house
of Capet seemed likely to fall to pieces during a minority. Blanche had
to bear the whole burden of affairs alone, to break up a league of the
barons (1226), and to repel the attack of the king of England (1230).
But her energy and firmness overcame all dangers. There was an end to
the calumnies circulated against her, based on the poetical homage
rendered her by Theobald IV., count of Champagne, and the prolonged
stay in Paris of the papal legate, Romano Bonaventura, cardinal of Sant'
Angelo. The nobles were awed by her warlike preparations or won over by
adroit diplomacy, and their league was broken up. St Louis owed his
realm to his mother, but he himself always remained somewhat under the
spell of her imperious personality. After he came of age (1236) her
influence upon him may still be traced. In 1248 she again became regent,
during Louis IX.'s absence on the crusade, a project which she had
strongly opposed. In the disasters which followed she maintained peace,
while draining the land of men and money to aid her son in the East. At
last her strength failed her. She fell ill at Melun in November 1252,
and was taken to Paris, but lived only a few days. She was buried at
Maubuisson.

  Besides the works of Joinville and William of Nangis, see Élie Berger,
  "Histoire de Blanche de Castille, reine de France," in _Bibliothèque
  des écoles françaises d'Athènes et de Rome_, vol. lxx. (Paris, 1895);
  Le Nain de Tillemont, "Vie de Saint Louis," ed. by J. de Gaulle for
  the _Société de l'histoire de France_ (6 vols., 1847-1851); and Paulin
  Paris, "Nouvelles recherches sur les moeurs de la reine Blanche et de
  Thibaud," in _Cabinet historique_ (1858).




BLANCH FEE, or BLANCH HOLDING (from Fr. _blanc_, white), an ancient
tenure in Scottish land law, the duty payable being in silver or white
money in contradistinction to gold. The phrase was afterwards applied to
any holding of which the quit-rent was merely nominal, such as a penny,
a peppercorn, &c.




BLANDFORD, or BLANDFORD FORUM, a market town, and municipal borough in
the northern parliamentary division of Dorsetshire, England, on the
Stour, 19 m. N.W. of Bournemouth by the Somerset & Dorset railway. Pop.
(1901) 3649. The town is ancient, but was almost wholly destroyed by
fire in the 18th century. The church of St Peter and St Paul, a
classical building, was built in 1732. There are a grammar-school
(founded in 1521 at Milton Abbas, transferred to Blandford in 1775), a
Blue Coat school (1729), and other educational charities. Remnants of a
mansion of the 14th century, Damory Court, are seen in a farmhouse, and
an adjoining Perpendicular chapel is used as a barn. There are numerous
early earthworks on the chalk hills in the neighbourhood. The fine
modern mansion of Bryanston, in the park adjoining the town, is the seat
of Lord Portman. The municipal borough is under a mayor, 4 aldermen and
12 councillors. Area, 145 acres.




BLANDRATA, or BIANDRATA, GIORGIO (c. 1515-1588), Italian physician and
polemic, who came of the De Blandrate family, powerful from the early
part of the 13th century, was born at Saluzzo, the youngest son of
Bernardino Blandrata. He graduated in arts and medicine at Montpellier
in 1533, and specialized in the functional and nervous disorders of
women. In 1544 he made his first acquaintance with Transylvania; in 1553
he was with Alciati in the Grisons; in 1557 he spent a year at Geneva,
in constant intercourse with Calvin, who distrusted him. He attended the
English wife (Jane Stafford) of Count Celso Massimiliano Martinengo,
preacher of the Italian church at Geneva, and fostered anti-trinitarian
opinions in that church. In 1558 he found it expedient to remove to
Poland, where he became a leader of the heretical party at the synods of
Pinczów (1558) and Ksionzh (1560 and 1562). His point was the
suppression of extremes of opinion, on the basis of a confession
literally drawn from Scripture. He obtained the position of court
physician to the queen dowager, the Milanese Bona Sforza. She had been
instrumental in the burning (1539) of Catharine Weygel, at the age of
eighty, for anti-trinitarian opinions; but the writings of Ochino had
altered her views, which were now anti-Catholic. In 1563 Blandrata
transferred his services to the Transylvanian court, where the daughters
of his patroness were married to ruling princes. He revisited Poland
(1576) in the train of Stephen Báthory, whose tolerance permitted the
propagation of heresies; and when (1579) Christopher Báthory introduced
the Jesuits into Transylvania, Blandrata found means of conciliating
them. Throughout his career he was accompanied by his two brothers,
Ludovico and Alphonso, the former being canon of Saluzzo. In
Transylvania, Blandrata co-operated with Francis Dávid (d. 1579), the
anti-trinitarian bishop, but in 1578 two circumstances broke the
connexion. Blandrata was charged with "Italian vice"; Dávid renounced
the worship of Christ. To influence Dávid, Blandrata sent for Faustus
Socinus from Basel. Socinus was Dávid's guest, but the discussion
between them led to no result. At the instance of Blandrata, Dávid was
tried and condemned to prison at Déva (in which he died) on the charge
of innovation. Having amassed a fortune, Blandrata returned to the
communion of Rome. His end is obscure. According to the Jesuit, Jacob
Wujek, he was strangled by a nephew (Giorgio, son of Alphonso) in May
1588. He published a few polemical writings, some in conjunction with
Dávid.

  See Malacarne, _Commentario delle Opere e delle Vicende di G.
  Blandrata_ (Padova, 1814); Wallace, _Anti-trinitarian Biography_, vol.
  ii. (1850).     (A. Go.*)




BLANE, SIR GILBERT (1740-1834), Scottish physician, was born at
Blanefield, Ayrshire, on the 29th of August 1749. He was educated at
Edinburgh university, and shortly after his removal to London became
private physician to Lord Rodney, whom he accompanied to the West Indies
in 1779. He did much to improve the health of the fleet by attention to
the diet of the sailors and by enforcing due sanitary precautions, and
it was largely through him that in 1795 the use of lime-juice was made
obligatory throughout the navy as a preventive of scurvy. Enjoying a
number of court and hospital appointments he built up a good practice
for himself in London, and the government constantly consulted him on
questions of public hygiene. He was made a baronet in 1812 in reward for
the services he rendered in connexion with the return of the Walcheren
expedition. He died in London on the 26th of June 1834. Among his works
were _Observations on the Diseases of Seamen_ (1795) and _Elements of
Medical Logic_ (1819).




BLANFORD, WILLIAM THOMAS (1832-1905), English geologist and naturalist,
was born in London on the 7th of October 1832. He was educated in
private schools in Brighton and Paris, and with a view to the adoption
of a mercantile career spent two years in a business house at Civita
Vecchia. On returning to England in 1851 he was induced to enter the
newly established Royal School of Mines, which his younger brother Henry
F. Blanford (1834-1893), afterwards head of the Indian Meteorological
Department, had already joined; he then spent a year in the mining
school at Freiburg, and towards the close of 1854 both he and his
brother obtained posts on the Geological Survey of India. In that
service he remained for twenty-seven years, retiring in 1882. He was
engaged in various parts of India, in the Raniganj coalfield, in Bombay,
and in the coalfield near Talchir, where boulders considered to have
been ice-borne were found in the Talchir strata--a remarkable discovery
confirmed by subsequent observations of other geologists in equivalent
strata elsewhere. His attention was given not only to geology but to
zoology, and especially to the land-mollusca and to the vertebrates. In
1866 he was attached to the Abyssinian expedition, accompanying the army
to Mágdala and back; and in 1871-1872 he was appointed a member of the
Persian Boundary Commission. The best use was made of the exceptional
opportunities of studying the natural history of those countries. For
his many contributions to geological science Dr Blanford was in 1883
awarded the Wollaston medal by the Geological Society of London; and for
his labours on the zoology and geology of British India he received in
1901 a royal medal from the Royal Society. He had been elected F.R.S. in
1874, and was chosen president of the Geological Society in 1888. He was
created C.I.E. in 1904. He died in London on the 23rd of June 1905. His
principal publications were: _Observations on the Geology and Zoology of
Abyssinia_ (1870), and _Manual of the Geology of India_, with H.B.
Medlicott (1879).

  Biography, with bibliography and portrait, in _Geological Magazine_,
  January 1905.




BLANK (from the Fr. _blanc_, white), a word used in various senses based
on that of "left white," i.e. requiring something to be filled in; thus
a "blank cheque" is one which requires the amount to be inserted, an
insurance policy in blank, where the name of the beneficiary is lacking,
"blank verse" (_q.v_.) verse without rhyme, "blank cartridge" that
contains only powder and no ball or shot. The word is also used, as a
substantive, for a ticket in a lottery or sweepstake which does not
carry a number or the name of a horse running or for an unstamped metal
disc in coining.




BLANKENBERGHE, a seaside watering-place on the North Sea in the province
of West Flanders, Belgium, 12 m. N.E. of Ostend, and about 9 m. N.W. of
Bruges, with which it is connected by railway. It is more bracing than
Ostend, and has a fine parade over a mile in length. During the season,
which extends from June to September, it receives a large number of
visitors, probably over 60,000 altogether, from Germany as well as from
Belgium. There is a small fishing port as well as a considerable
fishing-fleet. Two miles north of this place along the dunes is
Zeebrugge, the point at which the new ship-canal from Bruges enters the
North Sea. Fixed population (1904) 5925.




BLANKENBURG. (1) A town and health resort of Germany, in the duchy of
Brunswick, at the N. foot of the Harz Mountains, 12 m. by rail S.W. from
Halberstadt. Pop. (1901) 10,173. It has been in large part rebuilt since
a fire in 1836, and possesses a castle, with various collections, a
museum of antiquities, an old town hall and churches. There are
pine-needle baths and a hospital for nervous diseases. Gardening is a
speciality. In the vicinity is a cliff or ridge of rock called
Teufelsmauer (Devil's wall), from which fine views are obtained across
the plain and into the deep gorges of the Harz Mountains.

(2) Another BLANKENBURG, also a health-resort, is situated in
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Thuringia, at the confluence of the rivers Rinne
and Schwarza, and at the entrance of the Schwarzatal. Its environs are
charming, and to the north of it, on an eminence, rise the fine ruins of
the castle of Greifenstein, built by the German king Henry I., and from
1275 to 1583 the seat of a cadet branch of the counts of Schwarzburg.




BLANKETEERS, the nickname given to some 5000 operatives who on the 10th
of March 1817 met in St Peter's Field, near Manchester, to march to
London, each carrying blankets or rugs. Their object was to see the
prince regent and lay their grievances before him. The Habeas Corpus Act
was suspended, and the leaders were seized and imprisoned. The bulk of
the demonstration yielded at once. The few stragglers who persisted in
the march were intercepted by troops, and treated with considerable
severity. Eventually the spokesmen had an interview with the ministers,
and some reforms were the result.




BLANK VERSE, the unrhymed measure of iambic decasyllable in five beats
which is usually adopted in English epic and dramatic poetry. The
epithet is due to the absence of the rhyme which the ear expects at the
end of successive lines. The decasyllabic line occurs for the first time
in a Provençal poem of the 10th century, but in the earliest instances
preserved it is already constructed with such regularity as to suggest
that it was no new invention. It was certainly being used almost
simultaneously in the north of France. Chaucer employed it in his
_Compleynte to Pitie_ about 1370. In all the literatures of western
Europe it became generally used, but always with rhyme. In the beginning
of the 16th century, however, certain Italian poets made the experiment
of writing decasyllabics without rhyme. The tragedy of _Sophonisba_
(1515) of G.G. Trissino (1478-1550) was the earliest work completed in
this form; it was followed in 1525 by the didactic poem _Le Api_ (The
Bees), of Giovanni Rucellai (1475-1525), who announced his intention of
writing _"Con verso Etrusco dalle rime sciolto,"_ in consequence of
which expression this kind of metre was called _versi sciolti_ or blank
verse. In a very short time this form was largely adopted in Italian
dramatic poetry, and the comedies of Ariosto, the _Aminta_ of Tasso and
the _Pastor Fido_ of Guarini are composed in it. The iambic blank verse
of Italy was, however, mainly hendecasyllabic, not decasyllabic, and
under French influences the habit of rhyme soon returned.

Before the close of Trissino's life, however, his invention had been
introduced into another literature, where it was destined to enjoy a
longer and more glorious existence. Towards the close of the reign of
Henry VIII., Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, translated two books of the
_Aeneid_ into English rhymeless verse, "drawing" them "into a strange
metre." Surrey's blank verse is stiff and timid, permitting itself no
divergence from the exact iambic movement:--

  "Who can express the slaughter of that night,
   Or tell the number of the corpses slain,
   Or can in tears bewail them worthily?
   The ancient famous city falleth down,
   That many years did hold such seignory."

Surrey soon found an imitator in Nicholas Grimoald, and in 1562 blank
verse was first applied to English dramatic poetry in the _Gorboduc_ of
Sackville and Norton. In 1576, in the _Steel Glass_ of Gascoigne, it was
first used for satire, and by the year 1585 it had come into almost
universal use for theatrical purposes. In Lyly's _The Woman in the Moon_
and Peek's _Arraignment of Paris_ (both of 1584) we find blank verse
struggling with rhymed verse and successfully holding its own. The
earliest play written entirely in blank verse is supposed to be _The
Misfortunes of Arthur_ (1587) of Thomas Hughes. Marlowe now immediately
followed, with the magnificent movement of his _Tamburlaine_ (1589),
which was mocked by satirical critics as "the swelling bombast of
bragging blank verse" (Nash) and "the spacious volubility of a drumming
decasyllable" (Greene), but which introduced a great new music into
English poetry, in such "mighty lines" as

  "Still climbing after knowledge infinite,
   And always moving as the restless spheres,"

or:--

  "See where Christ's blood streams in the firmament!"

Except, however, when he is stirred by a particularly vivid emotion, the
blank verse of Marlowe continues to be monotonous and uniform. It still
depends too exclusively on a counting of syllables. But Shakespeare,
after having returned to rhyme in his earliest dramas, particularly in
_The Two Gentlemen of Verona_, adopted blank verse conclusively about
the time that the career of Marlowe was closing, and he carried it to
the greatest perfection in variety, suppleness and fulness. He released
it from the excessive bondage that it had hitherto endured; as Robert
Bridges has said, "Shakespeare, whose early verse may be described as
syllabic, gradually came to write a verse dependent on stress." In
comparison with that of his predecessors and successors, the blank verse
of Shakespeare is essentially regular, and his prosody marks the
admirable mean between the stiffness of his dramatic forerunners and the
laxity of those who followed him. Most of Shakespeare's lines conform to
the normal type of the decasyllable, and the rest are accounted for by
familiar and rational rules of variation. The ease and fluidity of his
prosody were abused by his successors, particularly by Beaumont and
Fletcher, who employed the soft feminine ending to excess; in Massinger
dramatic blank verse came too near to prose, and in Heywood and Shirley
it was relaxed to the point of losing all nervous vigour.

The later dramatists gradually abandoned that rigorous difference which
should always be preserved between the cadence of verse and prose, and
the example of Ford, who endeavoured to revive the old severity of blank
verse, was not followed. But just as the form was sinking into dramatic
desuetude, it took new life in the direction of epic, and found its
noblest proficient in the person of John Milton. The most intricate and
therefore the most interesting blank verse which has been written is
that of Milton in the great poems of his later life. He reduced the
elisions, which had been frequent in the Elizabethan poets, to law; he
admitted an extraordinary variety in the number of stresses; he
deliberately inverted the rhythm in order to produce particular effects;
and he multiplied at will the caesurae or breaks in a line. Such verses
as

  "Arraying with reflected purple and gold--
   Shoots invisible virtue even to the deep--
   Universal reproach, far worse to bear--
   Me, me only, just object of his ire"--

are not mistaken in rhythm, nor to be scanned by forcing them to obey
the conventional stress. They are instances, and _Paradise Lost_ is
full of such, of Milton's exquisite art in ringing changes upon the
metrical type of ten syllables, five stresses and a rising rhythm, so as
to make the whole texture of the verse respond to his poetical thought.
Writing many years later in _Paradise Regained_ and in _Samson
Agonistes_, Milton retained his system of blank verse in its general
characteristics, but he treated it with increased dryness and with a
certain harshness of effect. It is certainly in his biblical drama that
blank verse has been pushed to its most artificial and technical
perfection, and it is there that Milton's theories are to be studied
best; yet it must be confessed that learning excludes beauty in some of
the very audacious irregularities which he here permits himself in
_Samson Agonistes_. Such lines as

  "Made arms ridiculous, useless the forgery--
   My griefs not only pain me as a lingering disease--
   Drunk with idolatry, drunk with wine--
   Justly, yet despair not of his final pardon"--

are constructed with perfect comprehension of metrical law, yet they
differ so much from the normal structure of blank verse that they need
to be explained, and to imitate them would be perilous. A persistent
weakness in the third foot has ever been the snare of English blank
verse, and it is this element of monotony and dulness which Milton is
ceaselessly endeavouring to obviate by his wonderful inversions,
elisions and breaks.

After the Restoration, and after a brief period of experiment with
rhymed plays, the dramatists returned to the use of blank verse, and in
the hands of Otway, Lee and Dryden, it recovered much of its
magnificence. In the 18th century, Thomson and others made use of a very
regular and somewhat monotonous form of blank verse for descriptive and
didactic poems, of which the _Night Thoughts_ of Young is, from a
metrical point of view, the most interesting. With these poets the form
is little open to licence, while inversions and breaks are avoided as
much as possible. Since the 18th century, blank verse has been subjected
to constant revision in the hands of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley,
Keats, Tennyson, the Brownings and Swinburne, but no radical changes, of
a nature unknown to Shakespeare and Milton, have been introduced into
it.

  See J.A. Symonds, _Blank Verse_ (1895); Walter Thomas, _Le Décasyllabe
  romain et sa fortune en Europe_ (1904); Robert Bridges _Milton's
  Prosody_ (1894); Ed. Guest, _A History of English Rhythms_ (1882); J.
  Motheré, _Les Théories du vers héreoïque anglais_ (1886); J. Schipper,
  _Englische Metrik_ (1881-1888).     (E. G.)




BLANQUI, JERÔME ADOLPHE (1798-1854), French economist, was born at Nice
on the 21st of November 1798. Beginning life as a schoolmaster in Paris,
he was attracted to the study of economics by the lectures of J.B. Say,
whose pupil and assistant he became. Upon the recommendation of Say he
was in 1825 appointed professor of industrial economy and of history at
the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers. In 1833 he succeeded Say as
professor of political economy at the same institution, and in 1838 was
elected a member of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. In
1838 appeared his most important work, _Histoire de l'économie politique
en Europe, depuis les anciens jusqu'à nos jours_. He was indefatigable
in research, and for the purposes of his economic inquiries travelled
over almost the whole of Europe and visited Algeria and the East. He
contributed much to our knowledge of the conditions of the
working-classes, especially in France. Other works of Blanqui were _De
la situation économique et morale de l'Espagne en 1846; Résumé de
l'histoire du commerce et de l'industrie_ (1826); _Précis élémentaire
d'économie politique_ (1826); _Les Classes ouvrières en France_ (1848).




BLANQUI, LOUIS AUGUSTE (1805-1881), French publicist, was born on the
8th of February 1805 at Puget-Théniers, where his father, Jean Dominique
Blanqui, was at that time sub-prefect. He studied both law and medicine,
but found his real vocation in politics, and at once constituted himself
a champion of the most advanced opinions. He took an active part in the
revolution of July 1830, and continuing to maintain the doctrine of
republicanism during the reign of Louis Philippe, was condemned to
repeated terms of imprisonment. Implicated in the armed outbreak of the
Société des Saisons, of which he was a leading spirit, he was in the
following year, 1840, condemned to death, a sentence that was afterwards
commuted to imprisonment for life. He was released by the revolution of
1848, only to resume his attacks on existing institutions. The
revolution, he declared, was a mere change of name. The violence of the
_Société républicaine centrale_, which was founded by Blanqui to demand
a modification of the government, brought him into conflict with the
more moderate Republicans, and in 1849 he was condemned to ten years'
imprisonment. In 1865, while serving a further term of imprisonment
under the Empire, he contrived to escape, and henceforth continued his
propaganda against the government from abroad, until the general amnesty
of 1869 enabled him to return to France. Blanqui's leaning towards
violent measures was illustrated in 1870 by two unsuccessful armed
demonstrations: one on the 12th of January at the funeral of Victor
Noir, the journalist shot by Pierre Bonaparte; the other on the 14th of
August, when he led an attempt to seize some guns at a barrack. Upon the
fall of the Empire, through the revolution of the 4th of September,
Blanqui established the club and journal _La patrie en danger_. He was
one of the band that for a moment seized the reins of power on the 31st
of October, and for his share in that outbreak he was again condemned to
death on the 17th of March of the following year. A few days afterwards
the insurrection which established the Commune broke out, and Blanqui
was elected a member of the insurgent government, but his detention in
prison prevented him from taking an active part. Nevertheless he was in
1872 condemned along with the other members of the Commune to
transportation; but on account of his broken health this sentence was
commuted to one of imprisonment. In 1879 he was elected a deputy for
Bordeaux; although the election was pronounced invalid, Blanqui was set
at liberty, and at once resumed his work of agitation. At the end of
1880, after a speech at a revolutionary meeting in Paris, he was struck
down by apoplexy, and expired on the 1st of January 1881. Blanqui's
uncompromising communism, and his determination to enforce it by
violence, necessarily brought him into conflict with every French
government, and half his life was spent in prison. Besides his
innumerable contributions to journalism, he published an astronomical
work entitled _L'Éternité par les astres_ (1872), and after his death
his writings on economic and social questions were collected under the
title of _Critique sociale_ (1885).

  A biography by G. Geffroy, _L'Enfermé_ (1897), is highly coloured and
  decidedly partisan.




BLANTYRE, the chief town of the Nyasaland protectorate, British Central
Africa. It is situated about 3000 ft. above the sea in the Shiré
Highlands 300 m. by river and rail N.N.W. of the Chínde mouth of the
Zambezi. Pop. about 6000 natives and 100 whites. It is the headquarters
of the principal trading firms and missionary societies in the
protectorate. It is also a station on the African trans-continental
telegraph line. The chief building is the Church of Scotland church, a
fine red brick building, a mixture of Norman and Byzantine styles, with
lofty turrets and white domes. It stands in a large open space and is
approached by an avenue of cypresses and eucalyptus. The church was
built entirely by native labour. Blantyre was founded in 1876 by
Scottish missionaries, and is named after the birthplace of David
Livingstone.




BLANTYRE (Gaelic, "the warm retreat"), a parish of Lanarkshire,
Scotland. Pop. (1901) 14,145. The parish lies a few miles south-east of
Glasgow, and contains High Blantyre (pop. 2521), Blantyre Works (or Low
Blantyre), Stonefield and several villages. The whole district is rich
in coal, the mining of which is extensively carried on. Blantyre Works
(pop. 1683) was the birthplace of David Livingstone (1813-1873) and his
brother Charles (1821-1873), who as lads were both employed as piecers
in a local cotton-mill. The scanty remains of Blantyre Priory, founded
towards the close of the 13th century, stand on the left bank of the
Clyde, almost opposite the beautiful ruins of Bothwell Castle. High
Blantyre and Blantyre Works are connected with Glasgow by the Caledonian
railway. Stonefield (pop. 7288), the most populous place in the parish,
entirely occupied with mining, lies between High Blantyre and Blantyre
Works, Calderwood Castle on Rotten Calder Water, near High Blantyre, is
situated amid picturesque scenery.




BLARNEY, a small town of Co. Cork, Ireland, in the mid parliamentary
division, 5 m. N.W. of the city of Cork on the Cork & Muskerry light
railway. Pop. (1901) 928. There is a large manufacture of tweed. The
name "blarney" has passed into the language to denote a peculiar kind of
persuasive eloquence, alleged to be characteristic of the natives of
Ireland. The "Blarney Stone," the kissing of which is said to confer
this faculty, is pointed out within the castle. The origin of this
belief is not known. The castle, built c. 1446 by Cormac McCarthy, was
of immense strength, and parts of its walls are as much as 18 ft. thick.
To its founder is traced by some the origin of the term "blarney," since
he delayed by persuasion and promises the surrender of the castle to the
lord president. Richard Millikin's song, "The Groves of Blarney" (c.
1798), contributed to the fame of the castle, which is also bound up
with the civil history of the county and the War of the Great Rebellion.




BLASHFIELD, EDWIN HOWLAND (1848-   ), American artist, was born on the
15th of December 1848 in New York City. He was a pupil of Bonnat in
Paris, and became (1888) a member of the National Academy of Design in
New York. For some years a genre painter, he later turned to decorative
work, marked by rare delicacy and beauty of colouring. He painted mural
decorations for a dome in the manufacturers' building at the Chicago
Exposition of 1893; for the dome of the Congressional library,
Washington; for the capitol at St Paul, Minnesota; for the Baltimore
court-house; in New York City for the Appellate court house, the grand
ball-room of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, the Lawyers' club, and the
residences of W.K. Vanderbilt and Collis P. Huntington; and in
Philadelphia for the residence of George W. Drexel. With his wife he
wrote _Italian Cities_ (1900) and edited Vasari's _Lives of the
Painters_ (1896), and was well known as a lecturer and writer on art. He
became president of the Society of Mural Painters, and of the Society of
American Artists.




BLASIUS (or BLAISE), SAINT, bishop of Sebaste or Sivas in Asia Minor,
martyred under Diocletian on the 3rd of February 316. The Roman Catholic
Church holds his festival on the 3rd of February, the Orthodox Eastern
Church on the 11th. His flesh is said to have been torn with
woolcombers' irons before he was beheaded, and this seems to be the only
reason why he has always been regarded as the patron saint of
woolcombers. In pre-Reformation England St Blaise was a very popular
saint, and the council of Oxford in 1222 forbade all work on his
festival. Owing to a miracle which he is alleged to have worked on a
child suffering from a throat affection, who was brought to him on his
way to execution, St Blaise's aid has always been held potent in throat
and lung diseases. The woolcombers of England still celebrate St
Blaise's day with a procession and general festivities. He forms one of
a group of fourteen (i.e. twice seven) saints, who for their help in
time of need have been associated as objects of particularly devoted
worship in Roman Catholic Germany since the middle of the 15th century.

  See William Hone, _Every Day Book_, i. 210.




BLASPHEMY (through the Fr. from Gr. [Greek: blasphaemia], profane
language, slander, probably derived from root of [Greek: blaptein], to
injure, and [Greek: phaemae], speech), literally, defamation or evil
speaking, but more peculiarly restricted to an indignity offered to the
Deity by words or writing. By the Mosaic law death by stoning was the
punishment for blasphemy (Lev. xxiv. 16). The 77th Novel of Justinian
assigned death as the penalty, as did also the Capitularies. The common
law of England treats blasphemy as an indictable offence. All
blasphemies against God, as denying His being, or providence, all
contumelious reproaches of Jesus Christ, all profane scoffing at the
Holy Scriptures, or exposing any part thereof to contempt or ridicule,
are punishable by the temporal courts with fine, imprisonment and also
infamous corporal punishment. An act of Edward VI. (1547; repealed 1553
and revived 1558) enacts that persons reviling the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper, by contemptuous words or otherwise, shall suffer
imprisonment. Persons denying the Trinity were deprived of the benefit
of the Act of Toleration by an act of 1688. An act of 1697-1698,
commonly called the Blasphemy Act, enacts that if any person, educated
in or having made profession of the Christian religion, should by
writing, preaching, teaching or advised speaking, deny any one of the
Persons of the Holy Trinity to be God, or should assert or maintain that
there are more gods than one, or should deny the Christian religion to
be true, or the Holy Scriptures to be of divine authority, he should,
upon the first offence, be rendered incapable of holding any office or
place of trust, and for the second incapable of bringing any action, of
being guardian or executor, or of taking a legacy or deed of gift, and
should suffer three years' imprisonment without bail. It has been held
that a person offending under the statute is also indictable at common
law (_Rex_ v. _Carlisle_, 1819, where Mr Justice Best remarks, "In the
age of toleration, when that statute passed, neither churchmen nor
sectarians wished to protect in their infidelity those who disbelieved
the Holy Scriptures"). An act of 1812-1813 excepts from these enactments
"persons denying as therein mentioned respecting the Holy Trinity," but
otherwise the common and the statute law on the subject remain as
stated. In the case of _Rex_ v. _Woolston_ (1728) the court declared
that they would not suffer it to be debated whether to write against
Christianity in _general_ was not an offence punishable in the temporal
courts at common law, but they did not intend to include disputes
between learned men on _particular_ controverted points.

The law against blasphemy has practically ceased to be put in active
operation. In 1841 Edward Moxon was found guilty of the publication of a
blasphemous libel (Shelley's _Queen Mab_), the prosecution having been
instituted by Henry Hetherington, who had previously been condemned to
four months' imprisonment for a similar offence, and wished to test the
law under which he was punished. In the case of _Cowan_ v. _Milbourn_
(1867) the defendant had broken his contract to let a lecture-room to
the plaintiff, on discovering that the intended lectures were to
maintain that "the character of Christ is defective, and his teaching
misleading, and that the Bible is no more inspired than any other book,"
and the court of exchequer held that the publication of such doctrine
was blasphemy, and the contract therefore illegal. On that occasion the
court reaffirmed the dictum of Chief Justice Hale, that Christianity is
part of the laws of England. The commissioners on criminal law (sixth
report) remark that "although the law forbids _all_ denial of the being
and providence of God or the Christian religion, it is only when
irreligion assumes the form of an insult to God and man that the
interference of the criminal law has taken place." In England the last
prominent prosecution for blasphemy was the case of _R._ v. _Ramsey &
Foote_, 1883, 48 L.T. 739, when the editor, publisher and printer of the
_Freethinker_ were sentenced to imprisonment; but police court
proceedings were taken as late as 1908 against an obscure Hyde Park
orator who had become a public nuisance.

Profane cursing and swearing is made punishable by the Profane Oaths Act
1745, which directs the offender to be brought before a justice of the
peace, and fined five shillings, two shillings or one shilling,
according as he is a gentleman, below the rank of gentleman, or a common
labourer, soldier, &c.

By the law of Scotland, as it originally stood, the punishment of
blasphemy was death, but by an act of 1825, amended in 1837, blasphemy
was made punishable by fine or imprisonment or both.

In France, blasphemy (which included, also, speaking against the Holy
Virgin and the saints, denying one's faith, or speaking with impiety of
holy things) was from very early times punished with great severity. The
punishment was death in various forms, burning alive, mutilation,
torture or corporal punishment. In the United States the common law of
England was largely followed, and in most of the states, also, statutes
were enacted against the offence, but, as in England, the law is
practically never put in force. In Germany, the punishment for
blasphemy is imprisonment varying from one day to three years, according
to the gravity of the offence. To constitute the offence, the blasphemy
must be uttered in public, be offensive in character, and have wounded
the religious susceptibilities of some other person. In Austria, whoever
commits blasphemy by speech or writing is liable to imprisonment for any
term from six months up to ten years, according to the seriousness of
the offence.




BLASS, FRIEDRICH (1843-1907), German classical scholar, was born on the
22nd of January 1843 at Osnabrück. After studying at Göttingen and Bonn
from 1860 to 1863, he lectured at several gymnasia and at the university
of Königsberg. In 1876 he was appointed extraordinary professor of
classical philology at Kiel, and ordinary professor in 1881. In 1892 he
accepted a professorship at Halle, where he died on the 5th of March
1907. He frequently visited England, and was intimately acquainted with
leading British scholars. He received an honorary degree from Dublin
University in 1892, and his readiness to place the results of his
labours at the disposal of others, together with the courtesy and
kindliness of his disposition, won the respect of all who knew him.
Blass is chiefly known for his works in connexion with the study of
Greek oratory: _Die griechische Beredsamkeit von Alexander bis auf
Augustus_ (1865); _Die attische Beredsamkeit_ (1868-1880; 2nd ed.,
1887-1898), his greatest work; editions for the Teubner series of
Andocides (1880), Antiphon (1881), Hypereides (1881, 1894), Demosthenes
(Dindorf's ed., 1885), Isocrates (1886), Dinarchus (1888), Demosthenes
(Rehdantz' ed., 1893), Aeschines (1896), Lycurgus, _Leocrates_ (1902);
_Die Rhythmen der attischen Kunstprosa_ (1901); _Die Rhythmen der
asianischen und römischen Kunstprosa_ (1905). Among his other works are
editions of Eudoxus of Cnidus (1887), the [Greek: Athaenaion politeia]
(4th ed., 1903), a work of great importance, and Bacchylides (3rd. ed.,
1904); _Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch_ (1902; Eng. trans,
by H. St John Thackeray, 1905); _Hermeneutik und Kritik and
Paläographie, Buchwesen, und Handschriftenkunde_ (vol. i. of Müller's
_Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft_, 1891); _Über die
Aussprache des Griechischen_ (1888; Eng. trans, by W.J. Purton, 1890);
_Die Interpolationen in der Odyssee_ (1904); contributions to Collitz's
_Sammlung der griechischen Dialektinschriften_; editions of the texts of
certain portions of the New Testament (Gospels and _Acts_). His last
work was an edition of the _Choephori_ (1906).

  See notices in the _Academy_, March 16, 1907 (J.P. Mahaffy);
  _Classical Review_, May 1907 (J.E. Sandys), which contains also a
  review of _Die Rhythmen der asianischen und römischen Kunstprosa_.




BLASTING, the process of rending or breaking apart a solid body, such as
rock, by exploding within it or in contact with it some explosive
substance. The explosion is accompanied by the sudden development of gas
at a high temperature and under a tension sufficiently great to overcome
the resistance of the enclosing body, which is thus shattered and
disintegrated. Before the introduction of explosives, rock was
laboriously excavated by hammer and chisel, or by the ancient process of
"fire-setting," i.e. building a fire against the rock, which, on
cooling, splits and flakes off. To hasten disintegration, water was
often applied to the heated rock, the loosened portion being afterwards
removed by pick or hammer and wedge. In modern times blasting has become
a necessity for the excavation of rock and other hard material, as in
open surface cuts, quarrying, tunnelling, shaft-sinking and mining
operations in general.

For blasting, a hole is generally drilled to receive the charge of
explosive. The depth and diameter of the hole and the quantity of
explosive used are all variable, depending on the character of the rock
and of the explosive, the shape of the mass to be blasted, the presence
or absence of cracks or fissures, and the position of the hole with
respect to the free surface of the rock. The shock of a blast produces
impulsive waves acting radially in all directions, the force being
greatest at the centre of explosion and varying inversely as the square
of the distance from the charge. This is evidenced by the observed
facts. Immediately surrounding the explosive, the rock is often finely
splintered and crushed. Beyond this is a zone in which it is completely
broken and displaced or projected, leaving an enveloping mass of more
or less ragged fractured rock only partially loosened. Lastly, the
diminishing waves produce vibrations which are transmitted to
considerable distances. Theoretically, if a charge of explosive be fired
in a solid material of perfectly homogeneous texture and at a proper
distance from the free surface, a conical mass will be blown out to the
full depth of the drill hole, leaving a funnel-shaped cavity. No rock,
however, is of uniform mineralogical and physical character, so that in
practice there is only a rough approximation to the conical crater, even
under the most favourable conditions. Generally, the shape of the mass
blasted out is extremely irregular, because of the variable texture of
the rock and the presence of cracks, fissures and cleavage planes. The
ultimate or resultant useful effect of the explosion of a confined
charge is in the direction where the least resistance is presented. In
the actual work of rock excavation it is only by trial, or by deductions
based on experience, that the behaviour of a given rock can be
determined and the quantity of explosive required properly proportioned.

Blasting, as usually carried on, comprises several operations: (1)
drilling holes in the rock to be blasted; (2) placing in the hole the
charge of explosive, with its fuze; (3) tamping the charge, i.e.
compacting it and filling the remainder of the hole with some suitable
material for preventing the charge from blowing out without breaking the
ground; (4) igniting or detonating the charge; (5) clearing away the
broken material. The holes for blasting are made either by hand, with
hammer and drill or jumper, or by machine drill, the latter being driven
by steam, compressed air, or electricity, or, in rare cases, by
hydraulic power. Drill holes ordinarily vary in diameter from 1 to 3
in., and in depth from a few inches up to 15 or 20 ft. or more. The
deeper holes are made only in surface excavation of rock, the shallower,
to a maximum depth of say 12 ft., being suitable for tunnelling and
mining operations.

  _Hand Drilling_.--The work is either "single-hand" or "double-hand."
  In single-hand drilling, the miner wields the hammer with one hand,
  and with the other holds the drill or "bit," rotating it slightly
  after every blow in order to keep the hole round and prevent the drill
  from sticking fast; in double-hand work, one man strikes, while the
  other holds and rotates the drill. For large and deep holes, two
  hammermen are sometimes employed.

  [Illustration: FIG. 1.]

  [Illustration: FIG. 2.--Sledge-hammer.]

  A miner's drill is a steel bar, occasionally round but generally of
  octagonal cross-section, one end of which is forged out to a cutting
  edge (fig. 1). The edge of the drill is made either straight, like
  that of a chisel, or with a convex curve, the latter shape being best
  for very hard rock. For hard rock the cutting edge should be rather
  thicker and blunter, and therefore stronger, than for soft rock.
  Drills are made of high-grade steel, as they must be tempered
  accurately and uniformly. The diameter of drill steel for hand work is
  usually from ¾ to 1 in., and the length of cutting edge, or gauge, of
  the drill is always greater than the diameter of the shank, in the
  proportion of from 7.4 to 4.3. Holes over 10 or 12 in. deep generally
  require the use of a set of drills of different lengths and depending
  in number on the depth required. The shortest drill, for starting the
  hole, has the widest cutting edge, the edges of the others being
  successively narrower and graduated to follow each other properly, as
  drill after drill is dulled in deepening the hole. Thus the hole
  decreases in diameter as it is made deeper. The miner's hammer (fig.
  2) ranges in weight from 3½ to 4½ lb. for single-hand drilling, up to
  8 or 10 lb. for double-hand. If the hole is directed downward, a
  little water is poured into it at intervals, to keep the cutting edge
  of the drill cool and make a thin mud of the cuttings. From time to
  time the hole is cleaned out by the "scraper" or "spoon," a long
  slender iron bar, forged in the shape of a hollow semi-cylinder, with
  one end flattened and turned over at right angles. If the hole is
  directed steeply upward and the rock is dry, the cuttings will run out
  continuously during the drilling; otherwise the scraper is necessary,
  or a small pipe with a plunger like a syringe is used for washing out
  the cuttings. The "jumper" is a long steel bar, with cutting edges on
  one or both ends, which is alternately raised and dropped in the hole
  by one or two men. In rock work the jumper is rarely used except for
  holes directed steeply downward, though for coal or soft shale or
  slate it may be employed for drilling holes horizontally or upward.
  Other tools used in connexion with rock-drilling are the pick and gad.

  Holes drilled by hand usually vary in depth from say 18 to 36 in.,
  according to the nature of the rock and purpose of the work, though
  deeper holes are often made. For soft rock, single-hand drilling is
  from 20 to 30% cheaper than double-hand, but this difference does not
  hold good for the harder rocks. For these double-hand drilling is
  preferable, and may even be essential, to secure a reasonable speed of
  work.

  [Illustration: Fig. 3.--Ingersoll-Sergeant Mining Drill.]

  _Machine Drills._--The introduction of machine drills in the latter
  part of the 19th century exerted an important influence on the work of
  rock excavation in general, and specially on the art of mining. By
  their use many great tunnels and other works involving rock excavation
  under adverse conditions have been rapidly and successfully carried
  out. Before the invention of machine drills such work progressed
  slowly and with difficulty. Nearly all machine drills are of the
  reciprocating or percussive type, in which the drill bit is firmly
  clamped to the piston rod and delivers a rapid succession of strong
  blows on the bottom of the hole. The ordinary compressed air drill
  (which may, for surface work, be operated also by steam) may be taken
  as an illustration. The piston works in a cylinder, provided with a
  valve motion somewhat similar to that of a steam-engine, together with
  an automatic device for producing the necessary rotation of the piston
  and drill bit. While at work the machine is mounted on a heavy tripod
  (fig. 3); or, if underground, sometimes on an iron column or bar,
  firmly wedged in position between the roof and floor, or side walls,
  of the tunnel or mine working. As the hole is deepened, the entire
  drill head is gradually fed forward on its support by a screw feed, a
  succession of longer and longer drill bits being used as required.

  Among the numerous types and makes of percussion drill may be named
  the following:--Adelaide, Climax, Darlington, Dubois-François,
  Ferroux, Froelich, Hirnant, Ingersoll, Jeffrey, Leyner, McKiernan,
  Rand, Schram, Sergeant, Sullivan and Wood.

  [Illustration: Figs. 4 and 5.--Darlington's Rock Drill.]

  One of the simplest of the machine drills is the Darlington (figs. 4
  and 5): a is the cylinder; b, piston rod; c, bit; d, d, air inlets,
  either being used according to the position of the drill while at
  work; h, piston; j, rifle-bar for rotating piston and bit; k, ratchet
  attached to j; l, brass nut, screwed into h, and in which j works; f,
  chuck for holding drill-bit; n, air port communicating between ends of
  cylinder, front and back of piston; o, exhaust port. This machine has
  no valve. From its construction, the compressed air (or steam) is
  always acting on the annular shoulder round the forward end of the
  piston. The piston is thereby forced back on the in-stroke until the
  port n is uncovered. This admits the compressed air to the rear end of
  the cylinder, and as the area of this end of the piston is much
  greater than that of the shoulder on the other end, the piston is
  driven forward and strikes its blow. When it has advanced far enough
  to cover the exhaust port o, the air behind the piston is exhausted,
  and, under the constant inward pressure noted above, the stroke is
  reversed. The rotation of piston and bit is caused by the rifle-bar j.
  On the outward stroke, j, with its ratchet k, is free to turn under a
  couple of pawls and springs, and consequently the piston delivers its
  blow without rotation. On the inward stroke the ratchet is held fast
  by the pawls, and the piston and bit are forced to rotate through a
  small part of a revolution. The cylinder is fed forward with respect
  to the shell r, by rotating the handle p, which works a long screw-bar
  engaging with a nut on the under side of the cylinder. The shell r is
  bolted to the clamp s, which in turn is mounted on the hollow column
  or bar g, or on a tripod, according to the character of the work. By
  means of the adjustable clamp s, the machine can be set for drilling a
  hole in any desired direction. The drill makes from 400 to 800 strokes
  per minute.

  The "New Ingersoll" drill, which may be taken as an example of the
  numerous machines in which valves are used, is shown in section in
  fig. 6. The steam or compressed air is distributed through the ports
  alternately to the ends of the cylinder, by the reciprocations of a
  spool-valve working in a chest mounted on the cylinder. The movements
  of this valve are caused by the strokes of the main piston, which, by
  means of the wide annular groove around the middle of the piston,
  alternately open and close the spool-valve exhaust ports. Fig. 3 shows
  the Ingersoll "Light Mining drill," as mounted on a tripod, and in
  position for drilling a hole vertically downward. In the Leyner drill
  the drill-bit is not connected to the piston, but is struck a quick
  succession of blows by the latter. An important feature of this
  machine is the provision for directing a stream of water into the hole
  for clearing out the cuttings. For this purpose the shank of the
  drill-bit is perforated longitudinally, the water being supplied under
  pressure from a small tank, to which compressed air is led.

  A rock drill of entirely different design, the Brandt, has been
  successfully used in Europe for driving railway tunnels. It is
  operated by hydraulic power, the pressure water being supplied by a
  pump. The hollow drill-bit, which has a serrated cutting edge, is
  forced under heavy pressure against the bottom of the hole, and is
  rotated slowly--at six to eight revolutions per minute--by a pair of
  small hydraulic cylinders, thus grinding and crushing the rock instead
  of chipping it. The bottom of the hole is kept clean and the drill-bit
  cooled by a stream of water passing down through its hollow shank. On
  account of its size and weight, this machine is not suitable for mine
  work.

  [Illustration: FIG. 6.--New Ingersoll Drill.]

  Most of the machine drills are made in a number of sizes, from 2 in.
  up to 5 in. diameter of cylinder, the larger sizes being capable of
  drilling holes 5 in. diameter and 30 ft. deep. They range in weight
  from say 95 to 690 lb. for the drill head (unmounted), the tripods
  weighing from 40 to 260 lb., exclusive of the weights placed for
  stability on the tripod legs (fig. 3). The sizes in most common use
  for mining are from 2½ in. to 3-1/8 in. diameter of cylinder. In rock
  of average hardness the best drills make from 4 to 7.5 linear ft. of
  hole per hour. For use in narrow veins, or other confined workings
  underground, several extremely small and light compressed air drills
  have been introduced, as, for example, the Franke and Wonder, the
  first of which weighs complete only 16 lb., and the second 18 lb.
  These drills are held in the hands of the miner in the required
  position, and strike a rapid succession of light blows. A large number
  of mechanical drills operated by hand power have been invented. Some
  imitate hand-drilling in the mode of delivering the blow; in others
  the drill-bit is caused to reciprocate by means of combinations of
  crank and spring. None of these machines is entirely satisfactory, and
  but few are in use.

  Among percussion rock-drills operated by electricity are the Bladray,
  Box, Durkee, Marvin and Siemens-Halske. The Marvin drill works with a
  solenoid; most of the others have crank and spring movements for
  producing the reciprocations of the piston. Power is furnished by a
  small electric motor, either mounted on the machine itself, as with
  the Box drill, or more often standing on the ground and transmitting
  its power through a flexible shaft. Although rather frequently used,
  electric percussion drills cannot yet be considered entirely
  successful, at least for mine service, in competition with compressed
  air machines. Another type of electric drill, however, has been
  successfully used in collieries, viz. rotary auger drills, mounted on
  light columns and driven through gearing by diminutive motors. These
  are intended for boring in coal, slate or other similar soft material.
  Hand augers resembling a carpenter's brace and bit are also often used
  in collieries.

  Whatever may be the method of drilling, after the hole has been
  completed to the depth required, it is finally cleaned out by a
  scraper or swab; or, when compressed air drills are used, by a jet of
  air directed into the hole by a short piece of pipe connected through
  a flexible hose with the compressed air supply pipe. The hole is then
  ready for the charge.

  [Illustration: FIG. 7.]

  [Illustration: FIG. 8.]

  _Location and Arrangement of Holes._--For hand drilling in mining the
  position of the holes is determined largely by the character and shape
  of the face of rock to be blasted. The miner observes the joints and
  cracks of the rock, placing the holes to take advantage of them and so
  obtain the best result from the blast. In driving a tunnel or drift,
  as in figs. 7 and 8, the rock joints can be made of material
  assistance by beginning with hole No. 1 and following in succession by
  Nos. 2, 3 and 4. Frequently the ore, or vein matter, is separated from
  the wall-rock by a thin, soft layer of clay (D, D, fig. 8). This would
  act almost as a free face, and the first holes of the round would be
  directed at an angle towards it, for blasting out a wedge; after which
  the positions of the other holes would be chosen.

  [Illustration: FIG. 9.]

  [Illustration: FIG. 10.]

  When machine drills are employed, less attention is given to natural
  cracks or joints, chiefly because when the drill is once set up
  several holes at different angles can be drilled in succession by
  merely swinging the cylinder of the machine into a new position with
  respect to its mounting. According to one method, the holes are placed
  with some degree of symmetry, in roughly concentric rings, as shown by
  figs. 9 and 10. The centre holes are blasted first, and are followed
  by the others in one or more volleys as indicated by the dotted lines.
  Another method is the "centre cut," in which the holes are drilled in
  parallel rows on each side of the centre line of the tunnel, drift or
  shaft. Those in the two rows nearest the middle are directed towards
  each other, and enclose a prism of rock, which is first blasted put by
  heavy charges, after which the rows of side holes will break with
  relatively light charges.

  _Explosives._--A great variety of explosives are in use for blasting
  purposes. Up to 1864, gunpowder was the only available explosive, but
  in that year Alfred Nobel first applied nitroglycerin for blasting,
  and in 1867 invented dynamite. This name was originally applied to his
  mixture of nitroglycerin with kieselguhr, but now includes also other
  mechanical mixtures or chemical compounds which develop a high
  explosive force as compared with gunpowder. Besides these there are
  the so-called flameless or safety explosives, used in collieries where
  inflammable gases are given off from the coal.

  Gunpowder, or black powder, is seldom used for rock-blasting, except
  in quarrying building-stone, where slow explosives of relatively low
  power are desirable to avoid shattering the stone, and in such
  collieries as do not require the use of safety explosives. Gunpowder
  is exploded by deflagration, by means of a fuze, and exerts a
  comparatively slow and rending force. The high explosives, on the
  other hand, are exploded by detonation, through the agency of a fuze
  and fulminating cap, exerting a quick, shattering, rather than a
  rending force. Dynamites and flameless explosives are made in a
  variety of strengths, and are packed in waterproofed cartridges of
  different sizes. The grades of dynamite most commonly employed contain
  from 35 to 60% of nitroglycerin; the stronger are used for tough rock
  or deep holes, or for holes unfavourably placed in narrow mine
  workings, as sometimes in shaft-sinking or tunnelling. When of good
  quality high explosives are safer to handle than gunpowder, as they
  cannot be ignited by sparks and are not so easily exploded. The
  ordinary dynamites used in mining are about four times as powerful as
  gunpowder.

  Nitroglycerin in its liquid form is now rarely used for blasting,
  partly because its full strength is not often necessary but chiefly
  because of the difficulty and danger of transporting, handling and
  charging it. If employed at all, it is charged in thin tinned plate
  cases or rubber-cloth cartridges.

  _Blasting with Black Powder._--The powder is coarse-grained, usually
  from 1/8 to 3/16 in. in size, and is charged in paper cartridges, 8 to
  10 in. long and of a proper diameter to fit loosely in the drill hole.
  A piece of fuze, long enough to reach a little beyond the mouth of the
  hole, is inserted in the cartridge and tied fast. For wet holes
  paraffined paper is used, the miner waterproofing the joints with
  grease. When more than one cartridge is required for the blast, that
  which has the fuze attached is usually charged last. The cartridges
  are carefully rammed down by a wooden tamping bar and the remainder of
  the hole filled with tamping. This consists of finely broken rock, dry
  clay or other comminuted material, carefully compacted by the tamping
  bar on top of the charge. The fuze is a cord, having in the centre a
  core of gunpowder, enclosed in several layers of linen or hemp
  waterproofed covering. It is ignited by the miner's candle or lamp, or
  by a candle end so placed at the mouth of the hole that the flame must
  burn its way through the fuze covering. As the fuze burns slowly, at
  the rate of 2 or 3 ft. per minute, the miner uses a sufficient length
  to allow him to reach a place of safety.

  For blasting in coal, "squibs" instead of fuzes are often used. A
  squib is simply a tiny paper rocket, about 1/8 in. diameter by 3 in.
  long, containing fine gunpowder and having a sulphur slow-match at one
  end. It is fired into the charge through a channel in the tamping.
  This channel may be formed by a piece of ¼ in. gas pipe, tamped in the
  hole and reaching the charge; or a "needle," a long taper iron rod, is
  laid longitudinally in the hole, with its point entering the charge,
  and after the tamping is finished, by carefully withdrawing the needle
  a little channel is left, through which the squib is fired. In this
  connexion it may be noted that for breaking ground in gassy collieries
  several substitutes for explosives have been used to a limited extent,
  e.g. plugs of dry wood driven tightly into a row of drill holes, and
  which on being wetted swell and split the coal; quicklime cartridges,
  which expand powerfully on the application of water; simple wedges,
  driven by hammer into the drill holes; multiple wedges, inserted in
  the holes and operated by hydraulic pressure from a small hand
  force-pump.

  _Blasting with High Explosives._--High explosives are fired either by
  ordinary fuze and detonating cap or by electric fuze. Detonating caps
  of ordinary strength contain 10 to 15 grains of fulminating mixture.
  The cap is crimped tight on the end of the fuze, embedded in the
  cartridge, and on being exploded by fire from the fuze detonates the
  charge. The number of cartridges charged depends on the depth of hole,
  the length of the line of least resistance, and the toughness and
  other characteristics of the rock. Each cartridge should be solidly
  tamped, and, to avoid waste spaces in the hole, which would reduce the
  effect of the blast, it is customary to split the paper covering
  lengthwise with a knife. This allows the dynamite to spread under the
  pressure of the tamping bar. The cap is often placed in the cartridge
  preceding the last one charged, but it is better to insert it last, in
  a piece of cartridge called a "primer." Though the dynamites are not
  exploded by sparks, they should nevertheless always be handled
  carefully. It is not so essential to fill the hole completely and so
  thoroughly to compact the tamping, as in charging black powder,
  because of the greater rapidity and shattering force of the explosion
  of dynamite; tamping, however, should never be omitted, as it
  increases the efficiency of the blast. In exploding dynamite, strong
  caps, containing say 15 grains of fulminating powder, produce the best
  results. Weaker caps are not economical, as they do not produce
  complete detonation of the dynamite. This is specially true if the
  weather be cold. Dynamite then becomes less sensitive, and the
  cartridges should be gently warmed before charging, to a temperature
  of not more than 80° F. Poisonous fumes are often produced by the
  explosion of the nitroglycerin compounds. These are probably largely
  due to incomplete detonation, by which part of the nitroglycerin is
  vaporized or merely burned. This is most likely to occur when the
  dynamite is chilled, or of poor quality, or when the cap is too weak.
  There is generally but little inconvenience from the fumes, except in
  confined underground workings, where ventilation is imperfect.

  Like nitroglycerin, the common dynamites freeze at a temperature of
  from 42° to 46° F. They are then comparatively safe, and so far as
  possible should be transported in the frozen state. At very low
  temperatures dynamite again becomes somewhat sensitive to shock. When
  it is frozen at ordinary temperatures even the strongest detonating
  caps fail to develop the full force. In thawing dynamite, care must be
  exercised. The fact that a small quantity will often burn quietly has
  led to the dangerously mistaken notion that mere heating will not
  cause explosion. It is chiefly a question of temperature. If the
  quantity ignited by flame be large enough to heat the entire mass to
  the detonating point (say 360° F.) before all is consumed, an
  explosion will result. Furthermore, dynamite, when even moderately
  heated, becomes extremely sensitive to shocks. There are several
  accepted modes of thawing dynamite: (1) In a water bath, the
  cartridges being placed in a vessel surrounded on the sides and bottom
  by warm water contained in a larger enclosing vessel. The warm water
  may be renewed from time to time, or the water bath placed over a
  candle or small lamp, _not_ on a stove. (2) In two vessels, similar to
  the above, with the space between them occupied by air, provided the
  heat applied can be definitely limited, as by using a candle. (3) When
  large quantities of dynamite are used a supply may be kept on shelves
  in a wooden room or chamber, warmed by a stove, or by a coil of pipe
  heated by exhaust steam from an engine. Live steam should not be used,
  as the heat might become excessive. Thawing should always take place
  slowly, never before an open fire or by direct contact with a stove or
  steam pipes and care must be taken that the heat does not rise high
  enough to cause sweating or exudation of liquid nitroglycerin from the
  cartridges, which would be a source of danger.

  For the storage of explosives at mines, &c., proper magazines must be
  provided, situated in a safe place, not too near other buildings, and
  preferably of light though fireproof construction. Masonry magazines,
  though safer from some points of view, may be the cause of greater
  damage in event of an explosion, because the brick or stones act as
  projectiles. Isolated and abandoned mine workings, if dry, are
  sometimes used as magazines.

  [Illustration: FIG 11. Electrical Fuze.]

  Firing blasts by electricity has a wide application for both surface
  and underground work. An electrical fuze (fig. 11) consists of a pair
  of fine, insulated copper wires, several feet long and about 1/40 of
  an inch in diameter, with their bare ends inserted in a detonating
  cap. For firing, the fuze wires are joined to long leading wires,
  connected with some source of electric current. By joining the fuze
  wires in series or in groups, any number of holes may be fired
  simultaneously, according to the current available. A round of holes
  fired in this way, as for driving tunnels, sinking shafts, or in large
  surface excavations, produces better results, both in economy of
  explosive and effect of the blast, than when the holes are fired
  singly or in succession. Also, the miners are enabled to prepare for
  the blast with more care and deliberation, and then to reach a place
  of safety before the current is transmitted. Another advantage is that
  there is no danger of a hole "hanging fire," which sometimes causes
  accidents in using ordinary fuzes.

  Hanging fire may be due to a cut, broken or damaged powder fuze, which
  may smoulder for some time before communicating fire to the charge.
  "Miss-fires," which also are of not infrequent occurrence with both
  ordinary and electric fuzes, are cases where explosion from any cause
  fails to take place. After waiting a sufficient length of time before
  approaching the charged hole, the miner carefully removes the tamping
  down to within a few inches of the explosives and inserts and fires
  another cartridge, the concussion usually detonating the entire
  charge. Sometimes another hole is drilled near the one which has
  missed. No attempt to remove the old charge should ever be made.

  High tension electricity, generated by a frictional machine, provided
  with a condenser, was formerly much used for blasting. The bare ends
  of the fuze wires in the detonating cap are placed say 1/8 in. apart,
  leaving a gap across which a spark is discharged, passing through a
  priming charge of some sensitive composition. The priming is not only
  combustible but also a conductor of electricity, such as an intimate
  mixture of potassium chlorate with copper sulphide and phosphide. By
  the combustion of the priming the fulminate mixture in the cap is
  detonated. As these fuzes are more apt to deteriorate when exposed to
  dampness than fuzes for low-tension current, and the generating
  machine is rather clumsy and fragile, low-tension current is more
  generally employed. It may be generated by a small, portable dynamo,
  operated by hand, or may be derived from a battery or from any
  convenient electric circuit. The ends of the fuze wires in the
  detonating cap are connected by a fine platinum filament (fig. 11),
  embedded in a guncotton priming on top of the fulminating mixture, and
  explosion results from the heat generated by the resistance opposed to
  the passage of the current through the filament. Blasting machines are
  made in several sizes, the smaller ones being capable of firing
  simultaneously from ten to twenty holes. The fuzes must obviously be
  of uniform electrical resistance, to ensure that all the connected
  charges will explode simultaneously. The premature explosion of any
  one of the fuzes would break the circuit.

  In the actual operations of blasting, definite rules for the
  proportioning of the charges are rarely observed, and although the
  blasts made by a skilful miner seldom fail to do their work, it is a
  common fault that too much, rather than too little, explosive is used.
  The high explosives are specially liable to be wasted, probably
  through lack of appreciation of their power as compared with that of
  black powder. Among the indications of excessive charges are the
  production of much finely broken rock or of crushed and splintered
  rock around the bottom of the hole, and excessive displacement or
  projection of the rock broken by the blast. In beginning any new piece
  of work, such waste may be avoided or reduced by making trial shots
  with different charges and depths of hole, and noting the results;
  also by letting contracts under which the workmen pay for the
  explosive. In surface rock excavation the location and determination
  of the depth of the holes and the quantity of explosive used, are
  occasionally put in charge of one or more skilled men, who direct the
  work and are responsible for the results obtained.

  Blasting in surface excavations and quarries is sometimes done on an
  immense scale--called "mammoth blasting." Shafts are sunk, or tunnels
  driven, in the mass of rock to be blasted, and, connected with them, a
  number of chambers are excavated to receive the charges of explosive.
  The preparation for such blasts may occupy months, and many tons of
  gunpowder or dynamite are at times exploded simultaneously, breaking
  or dislodging thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of tons of
  rock. This method is adopted for getting stone cheaply, as for
  building macadamized roads, dams and breakwaters, obtaining limestone
  for blast furnace flux, and occasionally in excavating large railway
  cuttings. It is also applied in submarine blasting for the removal of
  reefs obstructing navigation, and sometimes for loosening extensive
  banks of partly cemented gold-bearing gravel, preparatory to washing
  by hydraulic mining.

  AUTHORITIES.--For further information on drilling and blasting
  see:--Callon, _Lectures on Mining_ (1876), vol. i. chs. v. and vi.;
  Foster, _Text-book of Ore and Stone Mining_, (1900), ch. iv.; Hughes,
  _Text-book of Coal Mining_ (1901), ch. iii.; H.S. Drinker,
  _Tunnelling, Explosive Compounds and Rock Drills_ (1878); M.C.
  Ihlseng, _Manual of Mining_ (1905), pp. 596-696; Köhler, _Der
  Bergbaukunde_ (1897), pp. 104-208; Daw, _The Blasting of Rock_ (1898);
  Prelini, _Earth and Rock Excavation_ (1905), chs. v., vi. and vii.;
  Gillette, _The Excavation of Rock_ (1904); Guttmann, _Blasting_
  (1892); Spon's _Dictionary of Engineering_, art. "Boring and
  Blasting"; Eissler, _Modern High Explosives_ (1893), pts. ii. and
  iii.; Walke, _Lectures on Explosives_ (1897), chs. xix.-xxii. Also:
  _Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng._ (London), vol. lxxxv. p. 264; _Trans. Inst.
  Min. Eng._ (England), vols. xiv., xv. and xvi. (arts, by W. Maurice),
  vol. xxvi. pp. 322, 348, vol. xxiv. p. 526 and vol. xxv. p. 108;
  _Trans. Amer. Soc. Civ. Eng._, vol. xxvii. p. 530; _Trans. Amer. Inst.
  Min. Eng._, vol. xviii. p. 370, vol. xxix p. 405 and vol. xxxiv. p.
  871; _South Wales Inst. Eng._ (1888); _Jour. Ass. Eng. Socs._, vol.
  vii. p. 58; _Jour. Chem. Met. and Mining Soc. of South Africa_, August
  1905; _School of Mines Quarterly_, N.Y., vol. ix. p. 308; _Colliery
  Guardian_, April 15, 1898, and February 6, 1903; _Mines and Minerals_,
  February 1905, p. 348, January 1906, p. 259, and April 1906, p. 393;
  _Eng. and Mining Jour._, April 19, 1902, p. 552; _The Engineer_,
  February 24, 1905; _Elec. Rev._, June 9, 1899; _Eng. News_, vol.
  xxxii. p. 249, and August 3, 1905; _Gluckauf_, September 28, 1901, and
  July 5, 1902; _Österr. Zeitschr. f. Berg- u. Hüttenwesen_, May 18, 25,
  1901, April 18, 1903 and November, 18, 1905; _Annales des mines_, vol.
  xviii. pp. 217-248.     (R. P.*)




BLAUBEUREN, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Württemberg, 12 m. W.
of Ulm, with which it is connected by railway. Pop. (1900) 3114. It is
romantically situated in a wild and deep valley of the Swabian Alps at
an altitude of 1600 ft. and is partly surrounded by ancient walls. Of
the three churches (two Evangelical and one Roman Catholic) the most
remarkable is the abbey church (_Klosterkirche_), a late Gothic building
dating from 1465-1496, the choir of which contains beautiful 15th
century carved choir-stalls and a fine high altar with a triptych
(1496). The choir only is used for service (Protestant), the nave being
used as a gymnasium. The town church (_Stadtkirche_) also has a fine
altar with triptych. The Benedictine abbey, founded in 1095, was used
after the Reformation as a school, and is now an Evangelical theological
seminary. There are two hospitals in the town.




BLAVATSKY, HELENA PETROVNA (1831-1891), Russian theosophist, was born at
Ekaterinoslav, on the 31st of July (O.S.) 1831, the daughter of Colonel
Peter Hahn, a member of a Mecklenburg family, settled in Russia. She
married in her seventeenth year a man very much her senior, Nicephore
Blavatsky, a Russian official in Caucasia, from whom she was separated
after a few months; in later days, when seeking to invest herself with a
halo of virginity, she described the marriage as a nominal one. During
the next twenty years Mme Blavatsky appears to have travelled widely in
Canada, Texas, Mexico and India, with two attempts on Tibet. In one of
these she seems to have crossed the frontier alone in disguise, been
lost in the desert, and, after many adventures, been conducted back by a
party of horsemen. The years from 1848 to 1858 were alluded to
subsequently as "the veiled period" of her life, and she spoke vaguely
of a seven years' sojourn in "Little and Great Tibet," or preferably of
a "Himalayan retreat." In 1858 she revisited Russia, where she created a
sensation as a spiritualistic medium. About 1870 she acquired
prominence among the spiritualists of the United States, where she
lived for six years, becoming a naturalized citizen. Her leisure was
occupied with the study of occult and kabbalistic literature, to which
she soon added that of the sacred writings of India, through the medium
of translations. In 1875 she conceived the plan of combining the
spiritualistic "control" with the Buddhistic legends about Tibetan
sages. Henceforth she determined to exclude all control save that of two
Tibetan adepts or "mahatmas." The mahatmas exhibited their "astral
bodies" to her, "precipitated" messages which reached her from the
confines of Tibet in an instant of time, supplied her with sound
doctrine, and incited her to perform tricks for the conversion of
sceptics. At New York, on the 17th of November 1875, with the aid of
Colonel Henry S. Olcott, she founded the "Theosophical Society" with the
object of (1) forming a universal brotherhood of man, (2) studying and
making known the ancient religions, philosophies and sciences, (3)
investigating the laws of nature and developing the divine powers latent
in man. The Brahmanic and Buddhistic literature supplied the society
with its terminology, and its doctrines were a curious amalgam of
Egyptian, kabbalistic, occultist, Indian and modern spiritualistic ideas
and formulas. Mme Blavatsky's principal books were _Isis Unveiled_ (New
York, 1877), _The Secret Doctrine, the Synthesis of Science, Religion
and Philosophy_ (1888), _The Key to Theosophy_ (1891). The two first of
these are a mosaic of unacknowledged quotations from such books as
K.R.H. Mackenzie's _Royal Masonic Encyclopaedia_, C.W. King's
_Gnostics_, Zeller's _Plato_, the works on magic by Dunlop, E. Salverte,
Joseph Ennemoser, and Des Mousseaux, and the mystical writings of
Eliphas Levi (L.A. Constant). _A Glossary of Theosophical Terms_
(1890-1892) was compiled for the benefit of her disciples. But the
appearance of Home's _Lights and Shadows of Spiritualism_ (1877) had a
prejudicial effect upon the propaganda, and Heliona P. Blavatsky (as she
began to style herself) retired to India. Thence she contributed some
clever papers, "From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan" (published
separately in English, London, 1892) to the _Russky Vyestnik_. Defeated
in her object of obtaining employment in the Russian secret service, she
resumed her efforts to gain converts to theosophy. For this purpose the
exhibition of "physical phenomena" was found necessary. Her jugglery was
cleverly conceived, but on three occasions was exposed in the most
conclusive manner. Nevertheless, her cleverness, volubility, energy and
will-power enabled her to maintain her ground, and when she died on the
8th of May 1891 (White Lotus Day), at the theosophical headquarters in
the Avenue Road, London, she was the acknowledged head of a community
numbering not far short of 100,000, with journalistic organs in London,
Paris, New York and Madras.

  Much information respecting her will be found in V.S. Solovyov's
  _Modern Priestess of Isis_, translated by Walter Leaf (1895), in
  Arthur Lillie's _Madame Blavatsky and Her Theosophy_ (1895), and in
  the report made to the Society for Psychical Research by the Cambridge
  graduate despatched to investigate her doings in India. See also the
  article THEOSOPHY.




BLAYDES, FREDERICK HENRY MARVELL (1818-1908), English classical scholar,
was born at Hampton Court Green, on the 29th of September 1818, being a
collateral descendant of Andrew Marvell, the satirist and friend of
Milton. He was educated at St Peter's school, York, and Christ Church,
Oxford. He was Hertford scholar in 1838, took a second class in literae
humaniores in 1840, and was subsequently elected to a studentship at
Christ Church. In 1842 he took orders, and from 1843 to 1886 was vicar
of Harringworth in Northamptonshire. During a long life he devoted
himself almost entirely to the study of the Greek dramatists. His
editions and philological papers are remarkable for bold conjectural
emendations of corrupt (and other) passages. His distinction was
recognized by his being made an honorary LL.D. of Dublin, Ph.D. of the
university of Buda Pest and a fellow of the royal society of letters at
Athens. He died at Southsea on the 7th of September 1908.

  His works include:--Aristophanes: _Comedies and Fragments_, with
  critical notes and commentary (1880-1893); _Clouds, Knights, Frogs,
  Wasps_ (1873-1878); _Opera Omnia_, with critical notes (1886);
  Sophocles; _Oedipus Coloneus, Oedipus Tyrannus_ and _Antigone_ (in
  the Bibliotheca Classica, 1859); _Philoctetes_ (1870), _Trachiniae_
  (1871), _Electra_ (1873), _Ajax_ (1875), _Antigone_ (1005); Aeschylus:
  _Agamemnon_ (1898), _Choephori_ (1899), _Eumenides_ (1900),
  _Adversaria Critica in Comicorum Graecorum Fragmenta_ (1890); _in
  Tragicorum Graec. Frag._ (1894), _in Aeschylum_ (1895), _in Varios
  Poetas Graecos et Latinos_ (1898), _in Aristophanem_ (1899), _in
  Sophoclem_ (1899), _in Euripidem_ (1901), _in Herodotum_ (1901);
  _Analecta Comica Graeca_ (1905); _Analecta Tragica Graeca_ (1906).




BLAYDON, an urban district in the Chester-le-Street parliamentary
division of Durham, England, on the Tyne, 4 m. W. of Newcastle by a
branch of the North-Eastern railway. Pop. (1881) 10,687; (1901) 19,617.
The chief industries are coal-mining, iron-founding, pipe, fire-brick,
chemical manure and bottle manufactures. In the vicinity is the
beautiful old mansion of Stella, and below it Stellaheugh, to which the
victorious Scottish army crossed from Newburn on the Northumberland bank
in 1640, after which they occupied Newcastle.




BLAYE-ET-STE LUCE, a town of south-western France, capital of an
arrondissement in the department of Gironde, on the right bank of the
Gironde (here over 2 m. wide), 35 m. N. of Bordeaux by rail. Pop. (1906)
of the town, 3423; of the commune, 4890. The town has a citadel built by
Vauban on a rock beside the river, and embracing in its enceinte ruins
of an old Gothic château. The latter contains the tomb of Caribert, king
of Toulouse, and son of Clotaire II. Blaye is also defended by the Fort
Pâté on an island in the river and the Fort Médoc on its left bank, both
of the 17th century. The town is the seat of a sub-prefect, and has
tribunals of first instance and of commerce and a communal college. It
has a small river-port, and carries on trade in wine, brandy, grain,
fruit and timber. The industries include the building of small vessels,
distilling, flour-milling, and the manufacture of oil and candles. Fine
red wine is produced in the district.

In ancient times Blaye (_Blavia_) was a port of the Santones. Tradition
states that the hero Roland was buried in its basilica, which was on the
site of the citadel. It was early an important stronghold which played
an important part in the wars against the English and the Religious
Wars. The duchess of Berry was imprisoned in its fortress in 1832-1833.




BLAZE (A.-S. _blaese_, a torch), a fire or bright flame; more nearly
akin to the Ger. _blass_, pale or shining white, is the use of the word
for the white mark on the face of a horse or cow, and the American use
for a mark made on a tree by cutting off a piece of the bark. The word
"to blaze," in the sense of to noise abroad, comes from the A.-S.
_blaesan_, to blow, cf. the Ger. _blasen_; in sense, if not in origin,
it is confused with "blazon" in heraldry.




BLAZON, a heraldic shield, a coat of arms properly "described" according
to the rules of heraldry, hence a proper heraldic description of such a
coat. The O. Fr. _blason_ seems originally to have meant simply a shield
as a means of defence and not a shield-shaped surface for the display of
armorial bearings, but this is difficult to reconcile with the generally
accepted derivation from the Ger. _blasen_, to blow, proclaim, English
"blaze," to noise abroad, to declare. In the 16th century the heraldic
term, and "blaze" and "blazon" in the sense of proclaim, had much
influence on each other.




BLEACHING, the process of whitening or depriving objects of colour, an
operation incessantly in activity in nature by the influence of light,
air and moisture. The art of bleaching, of which we have here to treat,
consists in inducing the rapid operation of whitening agencies, and as
an industry it is mostly directed to cotton, linen, silk, wool and other
textile fibres, but it is also applied to the whitening of paper-pulp,
bees'-wax and some oils and other substances. The term bleaching is
derived from the A.-S. _blaecan_, to bleach, or to fade, from which also
comes the cognate German word _bleichen_, to whiten or render pale.
Bleachers, down to the end of the 18th century, were known in England as
"whitsters," a name obviously derived from the nature of their calling.

The operation of bleaching must from its very nature be of the same
antiquity as the work of washing textures of linen, cotton or other
vegetable fibres. Clothing repeatedly washed, and exposed in the open
air to dry, gradually assumes a whiter and whiter hue, and our ancestors
cannot have failed to notice and take advantage of this fact. Scarcely
anything is known with certainty of the art of bleaching as practised by
the nations of antiquity. Egypt in early ages was the great centre of
textile manufactures, and her white and coloured linens were in high
repute among contemporary nations. As a uniformly well-bleached basis is
necessary for the production of a satisfactory dye on cloth, it may be
assumed that the Egyptians were fairly proficient in bleaching, and that
still more so were the Phoenicians with their brilliant and famous
purple dyes. We learn, from Pliny, that different plants, and likewise
the ashes of plants, which no doubt contained alkali, were employed as
detergents. He mentions particularly the _Struthium_ as much used for
bleaching in Greece, a plant which has been identified by some with
_Gypsophila Struthium_. But as it does not appear from John Sibthorp's
_Flora Graeca_, edited by Sir James Smith, that this species is a native
of Greece, Dr Sibthorp's conjecture that the _Struthium_ of the ancients
was the _Saponaria officinalis_, a plant common in Greece, is certainly
more probable.

In modern times, down to the middle of the 18th century, the Dutch
possessed almost a monopoly of the bleaching trade although we find
mention of bleach-works at Southwark near London as early as the middle
of the 17th century. It was customary to send all the brown linen, then
largely manufactured in Scotland, to Holland to be bleached. It was sent
away in the month of March, and not returned till the end of October,
being thus out of the hands of the merchant more than half a year.

The Dutch mode of bleaching, which was mostly conducted in the
neighbourhood of Haarlem, was to steep the linen first in a waste lye,
and then for about a week in a potash lye poured over it boiling hot.
The cloth being taken out of this lye and washed, was next put into
wooden vessels containing buttermilk, in which it lay under a pressure
for five or six days. After this it was spread upon the grass, and kept
wet for several months, exposed to the sunshine of summer.

In 1728 James Adair from Belfast proposed to the Scottish Board of
Manufactures to establish a bleachfield in Galloway; this proposal the
board approved of, and in the same year resolved to devote £2000 as
premiums for the establishment of bleachfields throughout the country.
In 1732 a method of bleaching with kelp, introduced by R. Holden, also
from Ireland, was submitted to the board; and with their assistance
Holden established a bleachfield for prosecuting his process at
Pitkerro, near Dundee.

The bleaching process, as at that time performed, was very tedious,
occupying a complete summer. It consisted in steeping the cloth in
alkaline lyes for several days, washing it clean, and spreading it upon
the grass for some weeks. The steeping in alkaline lyes, called
_bucking_, and the bleaching on the grass, called _crofting_, were
repeated alternately for five or six times. The cloth was then steeped
for some days in sour milk, washed clean and crofted. These processes
were repeated, diminishing every time the strength of the alkaline lye,
till the linen had acquired the requisite whiteness.

For the first improvement in this tedious process, which was faithfully
copied from the Dutch bleachfields, manufacturers were indebted to Dr
Francis Home of Edinburgh, to whom the Board of Trustees paid £100 for
his experiments in bleaching. He proposed to substitute water acidulated
with sulphuric acid for the sour milk previously employed, a suggestion
made in consequence of the new mode of preparing sulphuric acid,
contrived some time before by Dr John Roebuck, which reduced the price
of that acid to less than one-third of what it had formerly been. When
this change was first adopted by the bleachers, there was the same
outcry against its corrosive effects as arose when chlorine was
substituted for crofting. A great advantage was found to result from the
use of sulphuric acid, which was that a souring with sulphuric acid
required at the longest only twenty-four hours, and often not more than
twelve; whereas, when sour milk was employed, six weeks, or even two
months, were requisite, according to the state of the weather. In
consequence of this improvement, the process of bleaching was shortened
from eight months to four, which enabled the merchant to dispose of his
goods so much the sooner, and consequently to trade with less capital.

No further modification of consequence was introduced in the art till
the year 1787, when a most important change was initiated by the use of
chlorine (q.v.), an element which had been discovered by C.W. Scheele in
Sweden about thirteen years before. The discovery that this gas
possesses the property of destroying vegetable colours, led Berthollet
to suspect that it might be introduced with advantage into the art of
bleaching, and that it would enable practical bleachers greatly to
shorten their processes. In a paper on chlorine or oxygenated muriatic
acid, read before the Academy of Sciences at Paris in April 1785, and
published in the _Journal de Physique_ for May of the same year (vol.
xxvi. p. 325), he mentions that he had tried the effect of the gas in
bleaching cloth, and found that it answered perfectly. This idea is
still further developed in a paper on the same substance, published in
the _Journal de Physique_ for 1786. In 1786 he exhibited the experiment
to James Watt, who, immediately upon his return to England, commenced a
practical examination of the subject, and was accordingly the person who
first introduced the new method of bleaching into Great Britain. We find
from Watt's own testimony that chlorine was practically employed in the
bleachfield of his father-in-law, Mr Macgregor, in the neighbourhood of
Glasgow, in March 1787. Shortly thereafter the method was introduced at
Aberdeen by Messrs Gordon, Barron & Co., on information received from De
Saussure through Professor Patrick Copland of Aberdeen. Thomas Henry of
Manchester was the first to bleach with chlorine in the Lancashire
district, and to his independent investigations several of the early
improvements in the application of the material were due.

In these early experiments, the bleacher had to make his own chlorine
and the goods were bleached either by exposing them in chambers to the
action of the gas or by steeping them in its aqueous solution. If we
consider the inconveniences which must have arisen in working with such
a pungent substance as free chlorine, with its detrimental effect on the
health of the work-people, it will be readily understood that the
process did not at first meet with any great amount of success. The
first important improvement was the introduction in 1792 of _eau de
Javel_, which was prepared at the Javel works near Paris by absorbing
chlorine in a solution of potash (1 part) in water (8 parts) until
effervescence began. The greatest impetus to the bleaching industry was,
however, given by the introduction in 1799 of chloride of lime, or
bleaching-powder, by Charles Tennant of Glasgow, whereby the bleacher
was supplied with a reagent in solid form which contained up to
one-third of its weight of available chlorine. Latterly frequent
attempts have been made to replace bleaching-powder by hypochlorite of
soda, which is prepared by the bleacher as required, by the electrolytic
decomposition of a solution of common salt in specially constructed
cells, but up to the present this mode of procedure has met with only a
limited success (see ALKALI MANUFACTURE).


_Bleaching of Cotton._

Cotton is bleached in the raw state, as yarn and in the piece. In the
raw state, and as yarn, the only impurities present are those which are
naturally contained in the fibres and which include cotton wax, fatty
acids, pectic substances, colouring matters, albuminoids and mineral
matter, amounting in all to some 5% of the weight of the material. Both
in the raw state and in the manufactured condition cotton also contains
small black particles which adhere firmly to the material and are
technically known as "motes." These consist of fragments of the cotton
seed husk, which cannot be completely removed by mechanical means. The
bleaching of cotton pieces is more complicated, since the bleacher is
called upon to remove the sizing materials with which the manufacturer
strengthens the warp before weaving (see below).

In principle, the bleaching of cotton is a comparatively simple process
in which three main operations are involved, viz. (1) boiling with an
alkali; (2) bleaching the organic colouring matters by means of a
hypochlorite or some other oxidizing agent; (3) souring, i.e. treating
with weak hydrochloric or sulphuric acid. For loose cotton and yarn
these three operations are sufficient, but for piece goods a larger
number of operations is usually necessary in order to obtain a
satisfactory result.

  _Loose Cotton._--The bleaching of loose or raw cotton previous to
  spinning is only carried out to a very limited extent, and consists
  essentially in first steeping the material in a warm solution of soda
  for some hours, after which it is washed and treated with a solution
  of bleaching powder or sodium hypochlorite. It is then again washed,
  soured with weak sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, and ultimately washed
  free from acid. Careful treatment is necessary in order to avoid any
  undue matting of the fibres, while any drastic treatment, such as
  heating with caustic soda and soap, as used for other cotton
  materials, cannot be employed, since the natural wax would thereby be
  removed, and this would detract from the spinning qualities of the
  fibre. In case the cotton is not intended to be spun, but is to serve
  for cotton wool or for the manufacture of gun cotton, more drastic
  treatment can be employed, and is, in fact, desirable. Thus, cotton
  waste is first extracted with petroleum spirit or some other suitable
  solvent, in order to remove any mineral oil or grease which may be
  present. It is then boiled with dilute caustic soda and resin soap,
  washed, bleached white with bleaching-powder, washed, soured and
  finally washed free from acid. In these operations, a certain amount
  of matting is unavoidable, and it is consequently necessary to open
  out the material after drying, in scutchers.

  _Cotton Yarn._--Cotton yarn is bleached in the form of cops, hanks or
  warps. In principle the processes employed are the same in each case,
  but the machinery necessarily differs. Most yarn is bleached in the
  hank, and it will suffice to give an account of this process only. The
  sequence of operations is the same as in the bleaching of cotton
  waste, and these can be conducted for small lots in an ordinary
  rectangular wooden vat as used in dyeing, in which the yarn is
  suspended in the liquor from poles which rest with their ends on the
  two longer sides of the vat. For bleaching yarn in bulk, however, this
  mode of procedure would involve so much manual labour that the process
  would become too expensive. It is, therefore, mainly with the object
  of economy that machinery has been introduced, by means of which large
  quantities can be dealt with at a time.

  The first operation, viz. that of boiling in alkali, is carried out in
  a "kier," a large, egg-ended, upright cylindrical vessel, constructed
  of boiler-plate and capable of treating from one to three tons of yarn
  at a time. In construction, the kiers used for yarn bleaching are
  similar in construction to those used for pieces (see below). The yarn
  to be bleached is evenly packed in the kier, and is then boiled by
  means of steam with the alkaline lye (3-4% of soda ash or 2% caustic
  soda on the weight of the cotton being usually employed) for periods
  varying from six to twelve hours. It is essential that a thorough
  circulation of the liquor should be maintained during the boiling, and
  this is effected either by means of a steam injector, or in other
  ways. As a rule low pressure kiers (working up to 10 lb. pressure) are
  employed for yarn bleaching, though some bleachers prefer to use high
  pressure kiers for the purpose.

  When the boiling has continued for the requisite time (6-8 hours), the
  steam is shut off, and the kier liquor blown off, when the yarn is
  washed in the kier by filling the latter with water and then running
  off, this operation being repeated two or three times. The hanks are
  now transferred to a stone cistern provided with a false bottom, from
  beneath which a pipe connects the cistern with a well situated below
  the floor line. The well contains a solution of bleaching-powder,
  usually of 2° Tw. strength, and this is drawn up by means of a
  centrifugal brass pump and showered over the top of the goods through
  a perforated wooden tray, passing then by gravitation through the
  goods back into the well. The circulation is maintained for one and a
  half to two hours, when the yarn will be found to be white. The
  bleaching-powder solution is now allowed to drain off, and water is
  circulated through the cistern to wash out what bleaching powder
  remains in the goods. The souring is next carried out either in the
  same or in a separate cistern by circulating hydrochloric or sulphuric
  acid of 2° Tw. for about half an hour. This is also allowed to drain,
  and the yarn is thoroughly washed to remove all acid, when it is taken
  out and wrung or hydroextracted. At this stage the yarn may be dyed in
  light or bright shades without further treatment, but if it is to be
  sold as white yarn, it is blued. The blueing may either be effected by
  dyeing or tinting with a colouring matter like Victoria blue 4R or
  acid violet, or by treatment in wash stocks with a suspension of
  ultramarine in weak soap until the colour is uniformly distributed
  throughout the material. The yarn is now straightened out and dried.

  The bleaching of cotton yarn is a very straightforward process, and it
  is very seldom that either complications or faults arise, providing
  that reasonable care and supervision are exercised.

  The _raison d'être_ of the various operations is comparatively simple.
  The effect of boiling with alkali is to remove the pectic acid, the
  fatty acids, part of the cotton wax and the bulk of the colouring
  matter, while the albuminoids are destroyed and the motes swelled up.
  If soap be used along with the alkali, the whole of the wax is removed
  by emulsification. In the operation of bleaching proper, the calcium
  hypochlorite of the chloride of lime through coming into contact with
  the carbonic acid of the atmosphere suffers decomposition according to
  the equation, Ca(OCl)2 + CO2 + H2O -> CaCO3 + 2HOCl, and the
  hypochlorous acid thus liberated destroys the colouring matter still
  remaining from the first operation, by oxidation. At the same time the
  motes which were swelled up by the alkali are broken up into small
  fragments and are thus removed. In the operation of souring, the lime
  which has been deposited on the fibres during the treatment with
  bleaching powder is dissolved, while at the same time any other
  metallic oxides (iron, copper, &c.) are removed.

  _Cotton Pieces._--By far the largest bulk of cotton is bleached in the
  piece, as it can be more conveniently and more economically dealt with
  in this form than in any other. Though similar in principle to yarn
  bleaching, the process of piece bleaching is somewhat more complex
  because the pieces contain in addition to the natural impurities of
  the cotton a considerable amount of foreign matter in the form of size
  which has been incorporated with the warp before weaving, with the
  object of strengthening it. This size consists essentially of starch
  (farina), with additions of tallow, zinc chloride, and occasionally
  other substances such as paraffin wax, magnesium chloride, soap, &c.,
  all of which must be removed if a perfect bleach is to result.
  Besides, mineral oil stains from the machinery of the weaving-shed are
  of common occurrence in piece goods.

  Cotton pieces are bleached either for whites, for prints or for dyed
  goods. The processes employed for these different classes vary but
  slightly and only in detail. The most drastic bleach is that required
  for goods which are subsequently to be printed. For dyed goods, the
  main object is not so much to obtain a perfect white as to remove any
  impurities which might interfere with the dyeing, while avoiding the
  formation of any oxycellulose. In bleaching for whites ("market
  bleaching") it is essential that the white should be as perfect as
  possible, and such goods are consequently invariably blued after
  bleaching.

  [Illustration: FIG. 1.--Section of a Dash-wheel.]

  For small lots (1-20 pieces) the bleaching can be conducted on very
  simple machinery. Thus many small piece dyers conduct the whole of
  their bleaching on the jigger, a simple form of dyeing machine on
  which most cotton piece goods are dyed (see DYEING). For muslins,
  laces and other very light fabrics, which will not stand rough
  handling, the operations are conducted mainly by hand, washing being
  effected in the dash-wheel (fig. 1), which consists of a cylindrical
  box, revolving on its axis. It has four divisions, as shown by the
  dotted lines, and an opening into each division. A number of pieces
  are put into each, abundance of water is admitted behind, and the
  knocking of the pieces as they alternately dash from one side of the
  division to the other during the revolution of the wheel effects the
  washing. The process lasts from four to six minutes.

  For velveteens, corduroys, heavy drills, pocketings and other fabrics
  in which creasing has to be avoided as much as possible, the so-called
  "open bleach" is resorted to, which differs from the ordinary process
  chiefly in that the goods are treated throughout at full width.

  The great bulk of cotton pieces is bleached in rope form, i.e.
  stitched together end to end and laterally collapsed, so that they
  will pass through a ring of 4 to 5 in. in diameter.

  The first operation which the goods undergo on arriving in the
  grey-room of the bleachworks is that of stamping with tar or some
  other indelible material in order that they may be identified after
  passing through the whole process. They are then stitched together end
  to end by means of special sewing machines, the stitch being of such a
  nature (chain stitch) that the thread can be ripped out at one pull at
  the end of the operations.

  _Singeing._--In the condition in which the pieces leave the loom and
  come into the hands of the bleacher, the surface of the fabric is seen
  to be covered with a _nap_ of projecting fibres which gives it a downy
  appearance. For some classes of goods this is not a disadvantage, but
  in the majority of cases, especially for prints where a clean surface
  is essential, the nap is removed before bleaching. This is usually
  effected by running the pieces at full width over a couple of arched
  copper plates heated to a full red heat by direct fire. An arrangement
  of the kind is shown in fig. 2, in which the singe-plates, a and b,
  are mounted over the flues of a coal fire. The plate b is most highly
  heated, a being at the end of the flue farthest removed from the
  fire. The cloth enters over a rail A, and in passing over the plate a
  is thoroughly dried and prepared for the singeing it receives when it
  comes to the highly-heated plate b. A block d, carrying two rails in
  the space between the plates, can be raised or lowered so as to
  increase or lessen the pressure of the cloth against the plates, or,
  if necessary, to lift it quite free of contact with them.

  [Illustration: FIG. 2.--Section of Singe-stove.]

  The pieces on leaving the singeing machine are passed either through a
  water trough or through a steam box with the object of extinguishing
  sparks, and are then plaited down. The speed at which the pieces
  travel over the singe plates is necessarily considerable and varies
  with different classes of material.[1]

  In lieu of plates, a cast-iron cylinder is sometimes employed ("roller
  singeing"), the heating being effected by causing the flame of the
  fire to be drawn through the roller, which is carried on two small
  rollers at each end and revolves slowly in the reverse direction to
  that followed by the piece, thus exposing continuously a freshly
  heated surface and avoiding uneven cooling.

  For figured pieces which have an uneven surface, it is obvious that
  plate or roller singeing would only affect the portions which project
  most, leaving the rest untouched. For such goods, "gas singeing" is
  employed, which consists in running the pieces over a non-luminous gas
  flame, the breadth of which slightly exceeds that of the piece, or in
  drawing the flame right through the piece.[2] The construction of an
  ordinary gas singeing apparatus is seen in section in fig. 3. Coal gas
  mixed with air is sent under pressure through pipe a into the burners
  b, b, where the mixture burns with an intense heat. The cloth travels
  in the direction of the arrows, and in passing over the small nap
  rollers c comes into contact with the flame four times in succession
  before leaving the machine.

  [Illustration: FIG. 3.--Gas Singeing Apparatus.]

  Gas singeing is also used for plain goods, and being cleaner and under
  better control has largely replaced plate singeing.

  At this stage the goods which have been browned on the surface by
  singeing are ready for the bleaching operations. A great many
  innovations have been introduced in recent years in the bleaching of
  calico, but although it is generally admitted that in point of view of
  time and economy many of these processes offer considerable
  advantages, the old process, in which a lime boil precedes the other
  operations, is still the one which is most largely employed by
  bleachers in England. In this, the sequence of operations is the
  following--

  _Grey Washing._--This operation (which is sometimes omitted) simply
  consists in running the pieces through an ordinary washing machine (as
  shown in fig. 5) through water in order to wet them out. On leaving
  the machine they are piled in a heap and left over night, when
  fermentation sets in, which results in the starch being to a large
  extent hydrolysed and rendered soluble in water.

  _Lime Boil._--In this operation, which is also known as _bowking_
  (Ger. _beuchen_), the pieces are first run through milk of lime
  contained in an ordinary washing machine and of such a strength that
  they take up about 4% of their weight of lime (CaO). They are then run
  over winches and guided through smooth porcelain rings ("pot-eyes")
  into the kier, where they are evenly packed by boys who enter the
  vessel through the manhole at the top. It is of the greatest
  importance that the goods should be evenly packed, for, if channels or
  loosely-packed places are left, the liquor circulating through the
  kier, when boiling is subsequently in progress, will follow the line
  of least resistance, and the result is an uneven treatment. Of the
  numerous forms of kier in use, the injector kier is the one most
  generally adopted. This consists of an egg-ended cylindrical vessel
  constructed of stout boiler plate and shown in sectional elevation in
  fig. 4. The kier is from 10 to 12 ft. in height and from 6 to 7 ft. in
  diameter, and stands on three iron legs riveted to the sides, but not
  shown in the figure. The bottom exit pipe E is covered with a
  shield-shaped false bottom of boiler plate, or (and this is more
  usual) the whole bottom of the kier is covered with large rounded
  stones from the river bed, the object in either case being simply to
  provide space for the accumulation of liquor and to prevent the pipe E
  being blocked. The cloth is evenly packed up to within about 3 to 4
  ft. of the manholes M, when lime water is run in through the liquor
  pipe until the level of the liquid reaches within about 2 ft. of the
  top of the goods. The manholes are now closed, and steam is turned on
  at the injector J by opening the valve v. The effect of this is to
  suck the liquor through E, and to force it up through pipe P into the
  top of the kier, where it dashes against the umbrella-shaped shield U
  and is distributed over the pieces, through which it percolates, until
  on arriving at E it is again carried to the top of the kier, a
  continuous circulation being thus effected. As the circulation
  proceeds, the steam condensing in the liquor rapidly heats the latter
  to the boil, and as soon as, in the opinion of the foreman, all air
  has been expelled, the blow-through tap is closed and the boiling is
  continued for periods varying from six to twelve hours under 20-60 lb.
  pressure. Steam is now turned off, and by opening the valve V the
  liquor, which is of a dark-brown colour, is forced out by the pressure
  of the steam it contains.

  [Illustration: FIG 4.--High Pressure Blow-through Kier.]

  The pieces are now run through a continuous washing machine, which is
  provided with a plentiful supply of water. The machine, which is shown
  in fig. 5, consists essentially of a wooden vat, over which there is a
  pair of heavy wooden (sycamore) bowls or squeezers. The pieces enter
  the machine at each end, as indicated by the arrows, and pass rapidly
  through the bowls down to the bottom of the vat over a loose roller,
  thence between the first pair of guide pegs through the bowls again,
  and travel thus in a spiral direction until they arrive at the middle
  of the machine, when they leave at the side opposite to that on which
  they entered. The same type of machine is used for liming, chemicking,
  and souring.

  The next operation is the "grey sour," in which the goods are run
  through a washing machine containing hydrochloric acid of 2° Tw.
  strength, with the object of dissolving out the lime which the goods
  retain in considerable quantity after the lime boil. The goods are
  then well washed, and are now boiled again in the ash bowking kier,
  which is similar in construction to the lime kier, with soda ash (3%)
  and a solution of rosin (1½%) in caustic soda (1¼%) for eight to ten
  hours. For white bleaching the rosin soap is omitted, soda ash alone
  being employed.

  [Illustration: FIG 5.--Roller Washing Machine.]

  The pieces are now washed free from alkali and the bleaching proper or
  "chemicking" follows. This operation may be effected in various ways,
  but the most efficient is to run the goods in a washing machine
  through bleaching powder solution at ½°-1° Tw., and allow them to lie
  loosely piled over night, or in some cases for a longer period. They
  are now washed, run through dilute sulphuric or hydrochloric acid at
  2° Tw. ("white sour") and washed again. Should the white not appear
  satisfactory at this stage (and this is usually the case with very
  heavy or dense materials), they are boiled again in soda ash,
  chemicked with bleaching powder at 1/8° Tw. or even weaker, soured
  and washed. It is of the utmost importance that the final washing
  should be as thorough as possible, in order to completely remove the
  acid, for if only small quantities of the latter are left in the
  goods, they are liable to become tender in the subsequent drying,
  through formation of hydrocellulose.

  The modern processes of bleaching cotton pieces differ from the one
  described above, chiefly in that the lime boil is entirely dispensed
  with, its place being taken by a treatment in the kier with caustic
  soda (or a mixture of caustic soda and soda ash) and resin soap. The
  best known and probably the most widely practised of these processes
  is one which was worked out by the late M. Horace Koechlin in
  conjunction with Sir William Mather, and this differs from the old
  process not only in the sequence of the operations but also in the
  construction of the kier. This consists of a horizontal egg-ended
  cylinder, and is shown in transverse and longitudinal sections in
  figs. 6 and 7. One of the ends E constitutes a door which can be
  raised or lowered by means of the power-driven chain C. The goods to
  be bleached are packed in wagons W outside the kier, and when filled
  these are pushed home into the kier, so that the pipes p fit with
  their flanges on to the fixed pipes at the bottom of the kier. The
  heating is effected by means of steam pipes at the lowest extremity of
  the kier, while the circulation of the liquor is brought about by
  means of the centrifugal pump P, which draws the liquor through the
  pipes p from beneath the false bottoms of the wagons and showers it
  over distributors D on to the goods. By this mode of working a
  considerable economy is effected in point of time, as the kier can be
  worked almost continuously; for as soon as one lot of goods has been
  boiled, the wagons are run out and two freshly-packed wagons take
  their place. The following is the sequence of operations:--The goods
  are first steeped over night in dilute sulphuric acid, after which
  they are washed and run through old kier liquor from a previous
  operation. They are then packed evenly in the wagons which are pushed
  into the kier, and, the door having been closed, they are boiled for
  about eight hours at 7-15 lb. pressure with a liquor containing soda
  ash, caustic soda, resin soap and a small quantity of sulphite of
  soda. The rest of the operations (chemicking, souring and washing) are
  the same as in the old process.

  [Illustration: FIG. 6.--The Mather Kier, cross section.]

  [Illustration: FIG. 7.--The Mather Kier, longitudinal section.]

  A somewhat different principle is involved in the Thies-Herzig
  process. In this the kier is vertical, and the circulation of the
  liquor is effected by means of a centrifugal or other form of pump,
  while the heating of the liquor is brought about outside the kier in a
  separate vessel between the pump and the kier by means of indirect
  steam. The sequence of operations is similar to that adopted in the
  Mather-Koechlin process, differing chiefly from the latter in the
  first operation, which consists in running the goods, after singeing,
  through very dilute boiling sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, containing
  in either case a small proportion of hydrofluoric acid, and then
  running them through a steam box, the whole operation lasting from
  twenty to sixty seconds.

  Bleached by any of the above processes, the cloth is next passed over
  a mechanical contrivance known as a "scutcher," which opens it out
  from the rope form to its full breadth, and is then dried on a
  continuous drying machine. Fig. 8 shows the appearance and
  construction of an improved form of the horizontal drying machine,
  which is in more common use for piece goods than the vertical form.
  The machine consists essentially of a series of copper or tinned iron
  cylinders, which are geared together so as to run at a uniform speed.
  Steam at 10-15 lb. pressure is admitted through the journalled
  bearings at one side of the machine, and the condensed water is forced
  out continuously through the bearings at the other side. The pieces
  pass in the direction of the arrow (fig. 9) over a scrimp rail or
  expanding roller round the first cylinder, then in a zigzag direction
  over all succeeding cylinders, and ultimately leave the machine dry,
  being mechanically plaited down at the other end.

  If the bleaching process has been properly conducted, the pieces
  should not only show a uniform pure white colour, but their strength
  should remain unimpaired. Careful experiments conducted by the late
  Mr. Charles O'Neill showed in fact that carefully bleached cotton may
  actually be stronger than in the unbleached condition, and this result
  has since been corroborated by others. Excessive blueing, which is
  frequently resorted to in order to cover the defects of imperfect
  bleaching, can readily be detected by washing a sample of the material
  in water, or, better still, in water containing a little ammonia, and
  then comparing with the original. The formation of oxycellulose during
  the bleaching process may either take place in boiling under pressure
  with lime or caustic soda in consequence of the presence of air in the
  kier, or through excessive action of bleaching powder, which may
  either result from the latter not being properly dissolved or being
  used too strong. Its detection may be effected by dyeing a sample of
  the bleached cotton in a cold, very dilute solution of methylene blue
  for about ten minutes, when any portions of the fabric in which the
  cellulose has been converted into oxycellulose will assume a darker
  colour than the rest. The depth of the colour is at the same time an
  indication of the extent to which such conversion has taken place.
  Most bleached cotton contains some oxycellulose, but as long as the
  formation has not proceeded far enough to cause tendering, its
  presence is of no importance in white goods. If, on the other hand,
  the cotton has to be subsequently dyed with direct cotton colours (see
  DYEING), the presence of oxycellulose may result in uneven dyeing.
  Tendering of the pieces, due to insufficient washing after the final
  souring operation, is a common defect in bleached goods. As a rule the
  free acid can be detected by extracting the tendered material with
  distilled water and adding to the extract a drop of methyl orange
  solution, when the latter will turn pink if free acid be present.
  Other defects which may occur in bleached goods are iron stains,
  mineral oil stains, and defects due to the addition of paraffin wax in
  the size.


_Bleaching of Linen._

The bleaching of linen is a much more complicated and tedious process
than the bleaching of cotton. This is due in part to the fact that in
linen the impurities amount to 20% or more of the weight of the fibre,
whereas in cotton they do not usually exceed 5%. Furthermore these
impurities, which include colouring matter, intracellular substances and
a peculiar wax known as "flax wax," are more difficult to attack than
those which are present in cotton, and the difficulty is still further
enhanced in the case of piece goods owing to their dense or impervious
character.

Till towards the end of the 18th century the bleaching of linen both in
the north of Ireland and in Scotland was accomplished by bowking in
cows' dung and souring with sour milk, the pieces being exposed to light
on the grass between these operations for prolonged periods.
Subsequently potash and later on soda was substituted for the cows'
dung, while sour milk was replaced by sulphuric acid. This "natural
bleach" is still in use in Holland, a higher price being paid for linen
bleached in this way than for the same material bleached with the aid of
bleaching powder. In the year 1744 Dr. James Ferguson of Belfast
received a premium of £300 from the Irish Linen Board for the
application of lime in the bleaching of linen. Notwithstanding this
reward, the use of lime in the bleaching of linen was for a long time
afterwards forbidden in Ireland under statutory penalties, and so late
as 1815 Mr Barklie, a respectable linen bleacher of Linen Vale, near
Keady, was "prosecuted for using lime in the whitening of linens in his
bleachyard."

[Illustration: FIG. 8.--Mather & Platt's Horizontal Drying Machine.]

The methods at present employed for the bleaching of linen are, except
in one or two unimportant particulars, the same as were used in the
middle of the 19th century. In principle they resemble those used in
cotton bleaching, but require to be frequently repeated, while an
additional operation, which is a relic of the old-fashioned process,
viz. that of "grassing" or "crofting," is still essential for the
production of the finest whites. Considerably more care has to be
exercised in linen bleaching than is the case with cotton, and the
process consequently necessitates a greater amount of manual labour. The
practical result of this is that whereas cotton pieces can be bleached
and finished in less than a week, linen pieces require at least six
weeks. Many attempts have naturally been made to shorten and cheapen the
process, but without success. The use of stronger reagents and more
drastic treatment, which would at first suggest itself, incurs the risk
of injury to the fibre, not so much in respect to actual tendering as to
the destruction of its characteristic gloss, while if too drastic a
treatment is employed at the beginning the colouring matter is liable to
become set in the fibre, and it is then almost impossible to remove it.
Among the many modern improvements which have been suggested, mention
may be made of the use of hypochlorite of soda in place of bleaching
powder, the use of oil in the first treatment in alkali (Cross &
Parkes), while de Keukelaere suggests the use of sodium sulphide for
this purpose. With the object of dispensing with the operation of
grassing, which besides necessitating much manual labour is subject to
the influences of the atmospheric conditions, Siemens & Halske of Berlin
have suggested exposure of the goods in a chamber to the action of
electrolytically prepared ozone. Jardin seeks to achieve the same object
by steeping the linen in dilute nitric acid.

Since the qualities of linen which are submitted to the bleacher vary
considerably, and the mode of treatment has to be varied accordingly, it
is not possible to give more than a bare outline of linen bleaching.

  Linen is bleached in the yarn and in the piece. Whenever one of the
  operations is repeated, the strength of the reagent is successively
  diminished. In yarn-bleaching the sequence of the operations is about
  as follows:--(1) Boil in kier with soda ash. (2) Reel in bleaching
  powder. This operation, which is peculiar to linen bleaching, consists
  in suspending the hanks from a square roller into bleaching powder
  solution contained in a shallow stone trough. The roller revolves
  slowly, so that the hanks, while passing continuously through the
  bleaching powder, are for the greater part of the time being exposed
  to the air. (3) Sour in sulphuric acid. (4) Scald in soda ash. (The
  term "scalding" means boiling in a kier.) (5) Reel in bleaching
  powder. (6) Sour in sulphuric acid. (7) Scald in soda ash. (8) Dip,
  i.e. steep in bleaching powder. (9) Sour in sulphuric acid. (10) Scald
  in soda ash. (11) Dip in bleaching powder. (12) Sour in sulphuric
  acid. For a full white, two more operations are usually required, viz.
  (13) scald in soda ash, and (14) dip in bleaching powder. Washing
  intervenes between all these operations.

  Pieces are not stamped as in the case of cotton, but thread-marked by
  hand with cotton dyed Turkey red. They are then sewn together end to
  end, and subjected to the following operations:--

  Boil with lime in kier.

  The pieces are now separated and made up into bundles (except in the
  case of very light linens, which may pass through the whole of the
  operations in rope form) and soured with sulphuric acid.

  First lye boil with soda ash and caustic soda.

  Second lye boil. For some classes of goods no less than six lye boils
  may be required.

  Grass between lye boils (according to their number).

  Rub with rubbing boards. This is also a speciality in linen bleaching,
  and consists of a mechanical treatment with soft soap, the object of
  which is to remove black stains in the yarn.

  Bleach with hypochlorite of soda.

  Scald. The two latter treatments are repeated three to five times,
  each series constituting a "turn." Grassing intervenes between each
  turn, and in some instances the pieces are rubbed before the last soda
  boil.

  [Illustration: FIG. 9.--Diagram showing the Horizontal Drying Machine
  threaded with Cloth.]

  The pieces are next steeped in large vessels (kiers) in weak
  hypochlorite of soda, and then in weak sulphuric acid, these
  treatments being repeated several times.

  Ultimately the goods are mill-washed, blued with smalt and dried.


_Bleaching of other Vegetable Textile Fabrics._

_Hemp_ may be bleached by a process similar to that used for linen, but
this is seldom done owing to the expense entailed. _China grass_ is
bleached like cotton. _Jute_ contains in its raw state a considerable
amount of colouring matter and intracellular substance. Since the
individual fibres are very short, the complete removal of the latter
would be attended by a disintegration of the material. Although it is
possible to bleach jute white, this is seldom if ever carried out on a
large scale owing to the great expense involved. A half-bleach on jute
is obtained by steeping the goods alternately in bleaching powder (or
hypochlorite of soda) and sulphuric acid, washing intervening. For a
cream these treatments are repeated.


_Bleaching of Straw._

In the Luton district, straw is bleached principally in the form of
plait, in which form it is imported. The bleaching is effected by
steeping the straw for periods varying from twelve hours to several days
in fairly strong alkaline peroxide of hydrogen. The number of baths
depends upon the quality of straw and the degree of whiteness required.
Good whites are thus obtained, and no further process would be necessary
if the hats had not subsequently to be "blocked" or pressed at a high
temperature which brings about a deterioration of the colour. After
bleaching with peroxide and drying, the straw consequently undergoes a
further process of sulphuring, i.e. exposure to gaseous sulphurous acid.
Panama hats are bleached after making up, but in this case only peroxide
of hydrogen is used and a very lengthy treatment entailing sometimes
fourteen days' steeping is required.


_Bleaching of Wool._

In the condition in which it is delivered to the manufacturers wool is
generally a very impure article, even if it has been washed on the
sheep's back before shearing. The impurities which it contains consist
in the main of the natural grease (in reality a kind of wax) exuded from
the skin of the sheep and technically known as the "yolk," the dried-up
perspiration from the body of the sheep; technically called "suint," and
dust, dirt, burrs, &c., which mechanically adhere to the sticky surfaces
of the fibres. In this condition wool is quite unfit for any
manufacturing purposes and must be cleansed before any mechanical
operations can be commenced. Formerly the washing was effected in stale
urine, which owed its detergent properties mainly to the presence of
ammonium carbonate. The stale urine or _lant_ was diluted with four to
five times its bulk of water, and in this liquor, heated to 40°-50° C.,
the washing was effected.

At the present day this method has been entirely abandoned, the washing
or "scouring" being effected with soap, assisted by ammonia, potash,
soda or silicate of soda. The finest qualities of wool are washed with
soft soap and potash, while for inferior qualities, cheaper detergents
are employed. The operation is in principle perfectly simple, the wool
being submerged in the warm soap solution, where it is moved about with
forks and then taken out and allowed to drain. A second treatment in
weaker soap serves to complete the process. In dealing with large
quantities, wool-washing machines are employed, which consist
essentially of long cast-iron troughs which contain the soap solution.
The wool to be washed is fed in at one end of the machine and is slowly
propelled to the other end by means of a system of mechanically-driven
forks or rakes. As it passes from the machine, it is squeezed through a
pair of rollers. Three such machines are usually required for efficient
washing, the first containing the strongest and the third the weakest
soap.

The washing of wool is in the main a mechanical process, in which the
water dissolves out the suint while the soap emulsifies the yolk and
thus removes it from the fibre. The attendant earthy impurities pass
mechanically into the surrounding liquid and are swilled away.

In some works the wool is washed first with water alone, the aqueous
extract thus obtained being evaporated to dryness and the residue
calcined. A very good quality of potash is thus obtained as a
by-product. In many works in Yorkshire and elsewhere, the dirty soap
liquors obtained in wool-washing are not allowed to run to waste, but
are run into tanks and there treated with sulphuric acid. The effect of
this treatment is to decompose the soap, and the fatty acids along with
the wool-grease rise as a magma to the surface. The purified product is
known in the trade as "Yorkshire grease."

Attempts have been made from time to time to extract the natural grease
from wool by means of organic solvents, such as carbon bisulphide,
carbon tetrachloride, petroleum spirit, &c., but have not met with much
success.

Worsted yarn spun on the English system, as well as woollen yarn and
fabrics made from them, contain oil which has been incorporated with the
wool to facilitate the spinning. This oil must be got rid of previous to
bleaching, and this is effected by scouring in warm soap with or without
the assistance of alkalis.

  The actual bleaching of wool may be effected in two ways, viz. by
  treating the material either with sulphurous acid or with hydrogen
  peroxide. Sulphurous acid may either be applied in the gaseous form or
  in solution as bisulphite of soda. In working by the first method,
  which is technically known as "stoving," the scoured yarn is wetted in
  very weak soap containing a small amount of blue colouring matter,
  wrung or hydro-extracted and then suspended in a chamber or stove.
  Sulphur contained in a vessel on the floor of the chamber is now
  lighted, and the door having been closed, is allowed to burn itself
  out. The goods are left thus exposed to the sulphur dioxide overnight,
  when they are taken out and washed in water. For piece goods a
  somewhat different arrangement is employed, the pieces passing through
  a slit into a chamber supplied with sulphur dioxide, then slowly up
  and down over a large number of rollers and ultimately emerging again
  at the same slit. Wool may also be bleached by steeping in a fairly
  strong solution of bisulphite of soda and then washing well in water.
  Wool bleached with sulphurous acid or bisulphite is readily affected
  by alkalis, the natural yellow colour returning on washing with soap
  or soda. A more permanent bleach is obtained by steeping the wool in
  hydrogen peroxide (of 12 volumes strength), let down with about three
  times its bulk of water and rendered slightly alkaline with ammonia or
  silicate of soda. Black or brown wools cannot be bleached white, but
  when treated with peroxide they assume a golden colour, a change which
  is frequently desired in human hair.


_Bleaching of Silk._

In raw silk, the fibre proper is uniformly coated with a proteid
substance known as _silk-gum, silk-glue_ or _sericine_ which amounts to
19-25% of the weight of the material, and it is only after the removal
of this coating that the characteristic properties of the fibre become
apparent. This is effected by the process of "discharging" or
"boiling-off," which consists in suspending the hanks of raw silk over
poles or sticks in a vat containing a strong hot soap solution (30% of
soap on the weight of the silk). The liquor is kept just below boiling
point for two or three hours, the hanks being turned from time to time.
During the process, the sericine at first swells up considerably, the
fibres becoming slippery, but as the operation proceeds it passes into
solution. It is important that only soft water should be used for
boiling-off since calcareous impurities are liable to mar the lustre of
the silk.

The silk is now rinsed in weak soda solution and wrung. In this
condition it is suitable for being dyed, but if it is to be bleached,
the hanks are tied up loosely with smooth tape, put into coarse linen
bags to prevent the silk becoming entangled, and boiled again in soap
solution which is half as strong as that used in the first operation.
The hanks are now taken out, rinsed in a weak soda solution, washed in
water and wrung.

The actual bleaching of silk is usually effected by stoving as in the
case of wool, with this difference, that the operation is repeated
several times and blueing or tinting with other colours is effected
after bleaching. Silk may also be bleached with peroxide of hydrogen,
but this method is only used for certain qualities of spun silk and for
tussore.

  _Ornamental feathers_ are best bleached by steeping in peroxide of
  hydrogen, rendered slightly alkaline by the addition of ammonia. The
  same treatment is applied to the bleaching of _ivory_. If peroxide of
  hydrogen could be prepared at a moderate cost, it would doubtless find
  a much more extensive application in bleaching, since it combines
  efficiency with safety, and gives good results with both vegetable and
  animal substances.     (E. K.)


FOOTNOTES:

  [1] Besides being used for cotton goods, plate singeing is also
    employed for certain classes of worsted goods (alpacas, bunting,
    &c.), and for most union goods (cotton warp and worsted weft).

  [2] A machine working on this principle has been constructed by F.
    Binder, and the makers of the machine (Messrs Mather & Platt, Ltd.)
    claim that it does better service than the machines constructed on
    the older principle.




BLEAK, or BLICK (_Alburnus lucidus_), a small fish of the Cyprinid
family, allied to the bream and the minnow, but with a more elongate
body, resembling a sardine. It is found in European streams, and is
caught by anglers, being also a favourite in aquariums. The well-known
and important industry of "Essence Orientale" and artificial pearls,
carried on in France and Germany with the crystalline silvery colouring
matter of the bleak, was introduced from China about the middle of the
17th century.




BLEEK, FRIEDRICH (1793-1859), German Biblical scholar, was born on the
4th of July 1793, at Ahrensbök, in Holstein, a village near Lübeck. His
father sent him in his sixteenth year to the gymnasium at Lübeck, where
he became so much interested in ancient languages that he abandoned his
idea of a legal career and resolved to devote himself to the study of
theology. After spending some time at the university of Kiel, he went to
Berlin, where, from 1814 to 1817, he studied under De Wette, Neander and
Schleiermacher. So highly were his merits appreciated by his
professors--Schleiermacher was accustomed to say that he possessed a
special _charisma_ for the science of "Introduction"--that in 1818 after
he had passed the examinations for entering the ministry he was recalled
to Berlin as _Repetent_ or tutorial fellow in theology, a temporary post
which the theological faculty had obtained for him. Besides discharging
his duties in the theological seminary, he published two dissertations
in Schleiermacher's and G.C.F. Lücke's _Journal_(1819-1820,1822), one on
the origin and composition of the Sibylline Oracles "Über die Entstehung
und Zusammensetzung der Sibyllinischen Orakel," and another on the
authorship and design of the Book of Daniel, "Über Verfasser und Zweck
des Buches Daniel." These articles attracted much attention, and were
distinguished by those qualities of solid learning, thorough
investigation and candour of judgment which characterized all his
writings. Bleek's merits as a rising scholar were recognized by the
minister of public instruction, who continued his stipend as _Repetent_
for a third year, and promised further advancement in due time. But the
attitude of the political authority underwent a change. De Wette was
dismissed from his professorship in 1819, and Bleek, a favourite pupil,
incurred the suspicion of the government as an extreme democrat. Not
only was his stipend as _Repetent_ discontinued, but his nomination to
the office of professor extraordinarius, which had already been signed
by the minister Karl Altenstein, was withheld. At length it was found
that Bleek had been confounded with a certain Baueleven Blech, and in
1823 he received the appointment.

During the six years that Bleek remained at Berlin, he twice declined a
call to the office of professor ordinarius of theology, once to
Greifswald and once to Königsberg. In 1829, however, he was induced to
accept Lücke's chair in the recently-founded university of Bonn, and
entered upon his duties there in the summer of the same year. For thirty
years he laboured with ever-increasing success, due not to any
attractions of manner or to the enunciation of novel or bizarre
opinions, but to the soundness of his investigations, the impartiality
of his judgments, and the clearness of his method. In 1843 he was raised
to the office of consistorial councillor, and was selected by the
university to hold the office of rector, a distinction which has not
since been conferred upon any theologian of the Reformed Church. He died
suddenly of apoplexy on the 27th of February 1859.

Bleek's works belong entirely to the departments of Biblical criticism
and exegesis. His views on questions of Old Testament criticism were
"advanced" in his own day; for on all the disputed points concerning the
unity and authorship of the books of the Old Covenant he was opposed to
received opinion. But with respect to the New Testament his position was
conservative. An opponent of the Tübingen school, his defence of the
genuineness and authenticity of the gospel of St. John is among the
ablest that have been written; and although on some minor points his
views did not altogether coincide with those of the traditional school,
his critical labours on the New Testament must nevertheless be regarded
as among the most important contributions to the maintenance of orthodox
opinions. His greatest work, his commentary on the epistle to the
Hebrews (_Brief an die Hebräer erläutert durch Einleitung, Übersetzung,
und fortlaufenden Commentar_, in three parts, 1828, 1836 and 1840) won
the highest praise from men like De Wette and Fr. Delitzsch. This work
was abridged by Bleek for his college lectures, and was published in
that condensed form in 1868. In 1846 he published his contributions to
the criticism of the gospels (_Beiträge zur Evangelien Kritik_, pt. i.),
which contained his defence of St John's gospel, and arose out of a
review of J.H.A. Ebrard's _Wissenschaftliche Kritik der Evangelischen
Geschichte_ (1842).

  After his death were published:--(1) His _Introduction to the Old
  Testament_ (_Einleitung in das Alte Testament_), (3rd ed., 1869); Eng.
  trans. by G.H. Venables (from 2nd ed., 1869); in 1878 a new edition
  (the 4th) appeared under the editorship of J. Wellhausen, who made
  extensive alterations and additions; (2) his _Introduction to the New
  Testament_ (3rd ed., W. Mangold, 1875), Eng. trans. (from 2nd German
  ed.) by William Urwick (1869, 1870); (3) his _Exposition of the First
  Three Gospels_ (_Synoptische Erklarung der drei ersten Evangelien_),
  by H. Holtzmann (1862); (4) his _Lectures on the Apocalypse_
  (_Vorlesungen über die Apokalypse_), (Eng. trans. 1875). Besides these
  there has also appeared a small volume containing _Lectures on
  Colossians, Philemon and Ephesians_ (Berlin, 1865). Bleek also
  contributed many articles to the _Studien und Kritiken_. For further
  information as to Bleek's life and writings, see Kamphausen's article
  in Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopadie_; Frédéric Lichtenberger's
  _Histoire des idées religieuses en Allemagne_, vol. iii.; Diestel's
  _Geschichte des Allen Testamentes_ (1869); and T.K. Cheyne's _Founders
  of Old Testament Criticism_ (1893).




BLEEK, WILHELM HEINRICH IMMANUEL (1827-1875), German philologist, son of
Friedrich Bleek, was born in 1827 at Berlin. He studied first at Bonn
and afterwards at Berlin, where his attention was directed towards the
philological peculiarities of the South African languages. In his
doctor's dissertation (Bonn, 1851), _De nominum generibus linguarum
Africae Australis_, he endeavoured to show that the Hottentot language
was of North African descent. In 1854 his health prevented him
accompanying Dr W.B. Baikie in the expedition to the Niger; but in the
following year he accompanied Bishop Colenso to Natal, and was enabled
to prosecute his researches into the language and customs of the
Kaffirs. Towards the close of 1856 he settled at Cape Town, and in 1857
was appointed interpreter by Sir George Grey. In 1859 he was compelled
by ill health to visit Europe, and on his return in the following year
he was made librarian of the valuable collection of books presented to
the colony by Sir George Grey. In 1869 he visited England, where the
value of his services was recognized by a pension from the civil list.
He died at Cape Town on the 17th of August 1875. His works, which are of
considerable importance for African and Australian philology, consist of
the _Vocabulary of the Mozambique Language_ (London, 1856); _Handbook of
African, Australian and Polynesian Philology_ (Cape Town and London, 3
vols., 1858-1863); _Comparative Grammar of, the South African Languages_
(vol. i., London, 1869); _Reynard the Fox in South Africa, or Hottentot
Fables and Tales_ (London, 1864); _Origin of Language_ (London, 1869).




BLENDE, or SPHALERITE, a naturally occurring zinc sulphide, ZnS, and an
important ore of zinc. The name blende was used by G. Agricola in 1546,
and is from the German _blenden_, to blind, or deceive, because the
mineral resembles lead ore in appearance but contains no lead, and was
consequently often rejected as worthless. Sphalerite, introduced by E.F.
Glocker in 1847, has the same meaning ([Greek: sphaleros], deceptive),
and so have the miners' terms "mock ore," "false lead," and "blackjack."
The term "blende" was at one time used in a generic sense, and as such
enters into the construction of several old names of German origin; the
species under consideration is therefore sometimes distinguished as
zinc-blende.

[Illustration: Fig. 1. ]

Crystals of blende belong to that subclass of the cubic system in which
there are six planes of symmetry parallel to the faces of the rhombic
dodecahedron and none parallel to the cubic faces; in other words, the
crystals are cubic with inclined hemihedrism, and have no centre of
symmetry. The fundamental form is the tetrahedron. Fig. 1 shows a
combination of two tetrahedra, in which the four faces of one
tetrahedron are larger than the four faces of the other: further, the
two sets of faces differ in surface characters, those of one set being
dull and striated, whilst those of the other set are bright and smooth.
A common form, shown in fig. 2, is a combination of the rhombic
dodecahedron with a three-faced tetrahedron y (311); the six faces
meeting in each triad axis are often rounded together into low conical
forms. The crystals are frequently twinned, the twin-axis coinciding
with a triad axis; a rhombic dodecahedron so twinned (fig. 3) has no
re-entrant angles. An important character of blende is the perfect
dodecahedral cleavage, there being six directions of cleavage parallel
to the faces of the rhombic dodecahedron, and angles between which are
60°.

When chemically pure, which is rarely the case, blende is colourless and
transparent; usually, however, the mineral is yellow, brown or black,
and often opaque, the depth of colour and degree of transparency
depending on the amount of iron present. The streak, or colour of the
powder, is brownish or light yellow, rarely white. The lustre is
resinous to adamantine, and the index of refraction high (2.369 for
sodium light). The substance is usually optically isotropic, though
sometimes it exhibits anomalous double refraction; fibrous zinc sulphide
which is doubly refracting is to be referred to the hexagonal species
wurtzite. The specific gravity is 4.0, and the hardness 4. Crystals
exhibit pyroelectrical characters, since they possess four uniterminal
triad axes of symmetry.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.]

[Illustration: FIG. 3.]

Crystals of blende are of very common occurrence, but owing to twinning
and distortion and curvature of the faces, they are often rather complex
and difficult to decipher. For this reason the mineral is not always
readily recognized by inspection, though the perfect dodecahedral
cleavage, the adamantine lustre, and the brown streak are characters
which may be relied upon. The mineral is also frequently found massive,
with a coarse or fine granular structure and a crystalline fracture;
sometimes it occurs as a soft, white, amorphous deposit resembling
artificially precipitated zinc sulphide. A compact variety of a pale
liver-brown colour and forming concentric layers with a reniform surface
is known in Germany as _Schalenblende_ or _Leberblende_.

A few varieties of blende are distinguished by special names, these
varieties depending on differences in colour and chemical composition. A
pure white blende from Franklin in New Jersey is known as cleiophane;
snow-white crystals are also found at Nordmark in Vermland, Sweden.
Black blende containing ferrous sulphide, in amounts up to 15 or 20%
isomorphously replacing zinc sulphide, is known as marmatite (from
Marmato near Guayabal in Colombia, South America) and christophite (from
St Christophe mine at Breitenbrunn near Eibenstock in Saxony).
Transparent blende of a red or reddish-brown colour, such as that found
near Holywell in Flintshire, is known as "ruby-blende" or "ruby-zinc."
Pribramite is the name given to a cadmiferous blende from Pribram in
Bohemia. Other varieties contain small amounts of mercury, tin,
manganese or thallium. The elements gallium and indium were discovered
in blende.

Blende occurs in metalliferous veins, often in association with galena,
also with chalcopyrite, barytes, fluorspar, &c. In ore-deposits
containing both lead and zinc, such as those filling cavities in the
limestones of the north of England and of Missouri, the galena is
usually found in the upper part of the deposit, the blende not being
reached until the deeper parts are worked. Blende is also found
sporadically in sedimentary rocks; for example, in nodules of
clay-ironstone in the Coal Measures, in the cement-doggers of the Lias,
and in the casts of fossil shells. It has occasionally been found on the
old timbers of mines. In these cases the zinc sulphide has probably
arisen from the reduction of sulphate by organic matter.

Localities for fine crystallized specimens are numerous. Mention may be
made of the brilliant black crystals from Alston Moor in Cumberland, St
Agnes in Cornwall and Derbyshire. Yellow crystals are found at
Kapnik-Bánya, near Nagy-Bánya in Hungary. Transparent yellow cleavage
masses of large size occur in limestone in the zinc mines at Picos de
Europa in the province of Santander, Spain. Beautiful isolated
tetrahedra of transparent yellow blende are found in the snow-white
crystalline dolomite of the Binnenthal in the Valais, Switzerland.
     (L. J. S.)




BLENHEIM (Ger. _Blindheim_), a village of Bavaria, Germany, in the
district of Swabia, on the left bank of the Danube, 30 m. N.E. from Ulm
by rail, a few miles below Höchstädt. Pop. 700. It was the scene of the
defeat of the French and Bavarians under Marshals Tallard and Marsin, on
the 13th of August 1704, by the English and the Austrians under the duke
of Marlborough and Prince Eugene. In consideration of his military
services and especially his decisive victory, a princely mansion was
erected by parliament for the duke of Marlborough near Woodstock in
Oxfordshire, England, and was named Blenheim Palace after this place.

The battle of Blenheim is also called Höchstädt, but the title accepted
in England has the advantage that it distinguishes this battle from that
won on the same ground a year previously, by the elector of Bavaria over
the imperial general Styrum (9-20 September 1703), and from the fighting
between the Austrians under Krag and the French under Moreau in June
1800 (see FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WARS). The ground between the hills and
the marshy valley of the Danube forms a defile through which the main
road from Donauwörth led to Ulm; parallel streams divide the narrow
plain into strips. On one of these streams, the Nebel, the French and
Bavarians (somewhat superior in numbers) took up their position facing
eastward, their right flank resting on the Danube, their left in the
under-features of the hilly ground, and their front covered by the
Nebel, on which were the villages of Oberglau, Unterglau and Blenheim.
The imperialist army of Eugene and the allies under Marlborough (52,000
strong) encamped 5 m. to the eastward along another stream, their flanks
similarly protected. On the 2nd-13th of August 1704 Eugene and
Marlborough set their forces in motion towards the hostile camps;
several streams had to be crossed on the march, and it was seven o'clock
(five hours after moving off) when the British of Marlborough's left
wing, next the Danube, deployed opposite Blenheim, which Tallard
thereupon garrisoned with a large force of his best infantry, aided by a
battery of 24-pounder guns. The French and Bavarians were taken somewhat
by surprise, and were arrayed in two separate armies, each with its
cavalry on the wings and its foot in the centre. Thus the centre of the
combined forces consisted of the cavalry of Marsin's right and of
Tallard's left.

Here was the only good ground for mounted troops, and Marlborough
followed Tallard's example when forming up to attack, but it resulted
from the dispositions of the French marshal that this weak point of
junction of his two armies was exactly that at which decisive action was
to be expected. Tallard therefore had a few horse on his right between
the Danube and Blenheim, a mass of infantry in his centre at Blenheim
itself, and a long line of cavalry supported by a few battalions forming
his left wing in the plain, and connecting with the right of Marsin's
army. This army was similarly drawn up. The cavalry right wing was in
the open, the French infantry near Oberglau, which was strongly held,
the Bavarian infantry next on the left, and finally the Bavarian cavalry
with a force of foot on the extreme left in the hills. The elector of
Bavaria commanded his own troops in person. Marlborough and Eugene on
their part were to attack respectively Tallard and Marsin. The right
wing under Eugene had to make a difficult march over broken ground
before it could form up for battle, and Marlborough waited, with his
army in order of battle between Unterglau and Blenheim, until his
colleague should be ready. At 12.30 the battle opened. Lord Cutts, with
a detachment of Marlborough's left wing, attacked Blenheim with the
utmost fury. A third of the leading brigade (British) was killed and
wounded in the vain attempt to break through the strong defences of the
village, and some French squadrons charged upon it as it retired; a
colour was captured in the _mêlée_, but a Hessian brigade in second line
drove back the cavalry and retook the colour. After the repulse of these
squadrons, in which some British cavalry from the centre took part,
Cutts again moved forward. The second attack, though pressed even more
fiercely, fared no better than the first, and the losses were heavier
than before. The duke then ordered Cutts to observe the enemy in
Blenheim, and concentrated all his attention on the centre. Here,
between Unterglau and Blenheim, preparations were being made, under
cover of artillery, for the crossing of the Nebel, and farther up-stream
a corps was sent to attack Oberglau. This attack failed completely, and
it was not until Marlborough himself, with fresh battalions, drove the
French back into Oberglau that the allies were free to cross the Nebel.

In the meanwhile the first line of Marlborough's infantry had crossed
lower down, and the first line of cavalry, following them across, had
been somewhat severely handled by Tallard's cavalry. The squadrons under
the Prussian general Bothmar, however, made a dashing charge, and
achieved considerable temporary success. Eugene was now closely engaged
with the elector of Bavaria, and both sides were losing heavily. But
Eugene carried out his holding attack successfully. Marsin dared not
reinforce Tallard to any extent, and the duke was preparing for the
grand attack. His whole force, except the detachment of Cutts, was now
across the Nebel, and he had formed it in several lines with the cavalry
in front. Marlborough himself led the cavalry; the French squadrons
received the attack at the halt, and were soon broken. Marsin's right
swung back towards its own army. Those squadrons of Tallard's left which
retained their order fell back towards the Danube, and a great gap was
opened in the centre of the defence, through which the victorious
squadrons poured. Wheeling to their left the pursuers drove hundreds of
fugitives into the Danube, and Eugene was now pressing the army of
Marsin towards Marlborough, who re-formed and faced northward to cut off
its retreat. Tallard was already a prisoner, but in the dusk and
confusion Marsin slipped through between the duke and Eugene. General
Churchill, Marlborough's brother, had meanwhile surrounded the French
garrison of Blenheim; and after one or two attempts to break out,
twenty-four battalions of infantry and four regiments of dragoons, many
of them the finest of the French army, surrendered.

The losses of the allies are stated at 4500 killed and 7500 wounded
(British 670 killed and 1500 wounded). Of the French and Bavarians
11,000 men, 100 guns and 200 colours and standards were taken; besides
the killed and wounded, the numbers of which vere large but
uncertain--many were drowned in the Danube. Marsin's army, though it
lost heavily, was drawn off in good order; Tallard's was almost
annihilated.




BLENNERHASSETT, HARMAN (1765-1831), Irish-American lawyer, son of an
Irish country gentleman of English stock settled in Co. Kerry, was born
on the 8th of October 1765. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin,
and in 1790 was called to the Irish bar. After living for several years
on the continent, he married in 1796 his niece, Margaret Agnew, daughter
of Robert Agnew, the lieutenant-governor of the Isle of Man. Ostracised
by their families for this step the couple decided to settle in America,
where Blennerhassett in 1798 bought an island in the Ohio river about 2
m. below Parkersburg, West Virginia. Here in 1805 he received a visit
from Aaron Burr (q.v.), in whose conspiracy he became interested,
furnishing liberal funds for its support, and offering the use of his
island as a rendezvous for the gathering of arms and supplies and the
training of volunteers. When the conspiracy collapsed, the mansion and
island were occupied and plundered by the Virginia militia.
Blennerhassett fled, was twice arrested and remained a prisoner until
after Burr's release. The island was then abandoned, and Blennerhassett
was in turn a cotton planter in Mississippi, and a lawyer (1819-1822) in
Montreal, Canada. After returning to Ireland, he died in the island of
Guernsey on the 2nd of February 1831. His wife, who had considerable
literary talent and who published _The Deserted Isle_ (1822) and _The
Widow of the Rock and Other Poems_ (1824), returned to the United States
in 1840, and died soon afterward in New York City while attempting to
obtain through Congress payment for property destroyed on the island.

  See William H. Safford, _Life of Harman Blennerhassett_ (Cincinnati,
  1853); W.H. Safford (editor), _The Blennerhassett Papers_ (Cincinnati,
  1864); and "The True Story of Harman Blennerhassett," by Therese
  Blennerhassett-Adams, in the _Century Magazine_ for July 1901, vol.
  lxii.




BLERA (mod. _Bieda_), an ancient Etruscan town on the Via Clodia, about
32 m. N.N.W. of Rome. It was of little importance, and is only mentioned
by geographers and in inscriptions. It is situated on a long, narrow
tongue of rock at the junction of two deep glens. Some remains of the
town walls still exist, and also two ancient bridges, both belonging to
the Via Clodia, and many tombs hewn in the rock--small chambers
imitating the architectural forms of houses, with beams and rafters
represented in relief. See G. Dennis, _Cities and Cemeteries of
Etruria_, i. 207. There was another Blera in Apulia, on the road from
Venusia to Tarentum.




BLESSINGTON, MARGUERITE, COUNTESS OF (1789-1849), Irish novelist and
miscellaneous writer, daughter of Edmund Power, a small landowner, was
born near Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, on the 1st of September 1789.
Her childhood was made unhappy by her father's character and
poverty,--and her early womanhood wretched by her compulsory marriage at
the age of fifteen to a Captain Maurice St Leger Farmer, whose drunken
habits brought him at last as a debtor to the king's bench prison,
where, in October 1817, he died. His wife had left him some time before,
and in February 1818 she married Charles John Gardiner, earl of
Blessington. Of rare beauty, charm and wit, she was no less
distinguished for her generosity and for the extravagant tastes which
she shared with her husband, which resulted in encumbering his estates
with a load of debt. In the autumn of 1822 they went abroad, spent four
months of the next year at Genoa in close intimacy with Byron, and
remained on the continent till Lord Blessington's death in May 1829.
Some time before this they had been joined by Count D'Orsay, who in 1827
married Lady Harriet Gardiner, Lord Blessington's only daughter by a
former wife. D'Orsay, who had soon separated from his wife, now
accompanied Lady Blessington to England and lived with her till her
death. Their home, first at Seamore Place, and afterwards Gore House,
Kensington, became a centre of attraction for whatever was distinguished
in literature, learning, art, science and fashion. After her husband's
death she supplemented her diminished income by contributing to various
periodicals as well as by writing novels. She was for some years editor
of _The Book of Beauty_ and _The Keepsake_, popular annuals of the day.
In 1834 she published her _Conversations with Lord Byron_. Her _Idler in
Italy_ (1839-1840), and _Idler in France_ (1841) were popular for their
personal gossip and anecdote, descriptions of nature and sentiment.
Early in 1849, Count D'Orsay left Gore House to escape his creditors;
the furniture and decorations were sold, and Lady Blessington joined the
count in Paris, where she died on the 4th of June 1849.

  Her _Literary Life and Correspondence_ (3 vols.), edited by R.R.
  Madden, appeared in 1855. Her portrait was painted in 1808 by Sir
  Thomas Lawrence.




BLIDA, a town of Algeria, in the department of Algiers, 32 m. by railway
S.W. from Algiers, on the line to Oran. Pop. (1906) 16,866. It lies
surrounded with orchards and gardens, 630 ft. above the sea, at the base
of the Little Atlas, on the southern edge of the fertile plain of the
Metija, and the right bank of the Wad-el-Kebir affluent of the Chiffa.
The abundant water of this stream provides power for large corn mills
and several factories, and also supplies the town, with its numerous
fountains and irrigated gardens. Blida is surrounded by a wall of
considerable extent, pierced by six gates, and is further defended by
Fort Mimieh, crowning a steep hill on the left bank of the river. The
present town, French in character, has well-built modern streets with
many arcades, and numbers among its buildings several mosques and
churches, extensive barracks and a large military hospital. The
principal square, the place d'Armes, is surrounded by arcaded houses and
shaded by trees. The centre of a fertile district, and a post on one of
the main routes in the country, Blida has a flourishing trade, chiefly
in oranges and flour. The orange groves contain over 50,000 trees, and
in April the air for miles round is laden with the scent of the orange
blossoms. In the public gardens is a group of magnificent olive trees.
The products of the neighbouring cork trees and cedar groves are a
source of revenue to the town. In the vicinity are the villages of
Joinville and Montpensier, which owe their origin to military camps
established by Marshal Valée in 1838; and on the road to Medea are the
tombs of the marabout Mahommed-el-Kebir, who died in 1580, and his two
sons.

Blida, _i.e. boleida_, diminutive of the Arab word _belad_, city,
occupies the site of a military station in the time of the Romans, but
the present town appears to date from the 16th century. A mosque was
built by order of Khair-ed-din Barbarossa, and under the Turks the town
was of some importance. In 1825 it was nearly destroyed by an
earthquake, but was speedily rebuilt on a site about a mile distant from
the ruins. It was not till 1838 that it was finally held by the French,
though they had been in possession for a short time eight years before.
In April 1906 it was chosen as the place of detention of Behanzin, the
ex-king of Dahomey, who died in December of that year.

Blida is the chief town of a commune of the same name, having (1906) a
population of 33,332.




BLIGH, WILLIAM (1754-1817), English admiral, was born of a good Cornish
family in 1754. He accompanied Captain Cook in his second expedition
(1772-1774) as sailing-master of the "Resolution." During the voyage,
the bread-fruit, already known to Dampier, was found by them at
Otaheite; and after seeing service under Lord Howe and elsewhere,
"Bread-fruit Bligh," as he was nicknamed, was despatched at the end of
1787 to the Pacific in command of H.M.S. "Bounty," for the purpose of
introducing it into the West Indies from the South Sea Islands. Bligh
sailed from Otaheite, after remaining there about six months; but, when
near the Friendly Islands, a mutiny (April 28, 1789) broke out on board
the "Bounty," headed by Fletcher Christian, the master's mate, and
Bligh, with eighteen others, was set adrift in the launch. The mutineers
themselves settled on Pitcairn Island (q.v.), but some of them were
afterwards captured, brought to England and in three cases executed.
This mutiny, which forms the subject of Byron's Island, did not arise so
much from tyranny on the part of Bligh as from attachments contracted
between the seamen and the women of Otaheite. After suffering severely
from hunger, thirst and storms, Bligh and his companions landed at Timor
in the East Indies, having performed a voyage of about 4000 m. in an
open boat. Bligh returned to England in 1790, and he was soon afterwards
appointed to the "Providence," in which he effected the purpose of his
former appointment by introducing the bread-fruit tree into the West
India Islands. He showed great courage at the mutiny of the Nore in
1797, and in the same year took part in the battle of Camperdown, where
Admiral Duncan defeated the Dutch under De Winter. In 1801 he commanded
the "Glatton" (54) at the battle of Copenhagen, and received the
personal commendations of Nelson. In 1805 he was appointed "captain
general and governor of New South Wales." As he made himself intensely
unpopular by the harsh exercise of authority, he was deposed in January
1808 by a mutiny headed by Major George Johnston of the 102nd foot, and
was imprisoned by the mutineers till 1810. He returned to England in
1811, was promoted to rear-admiral in that year, and to vice-admiral in
1814. Major Johnston was tried by court martial at Chelsea in 1811, and
was dismissed the service. Bligh, who was an active, persevering and
courageous officer, died in London in 1817.




BLIND, MATHILDE (1841-1896), English author, was born at Mannheim on the
21st of March 1841. Her father was a banker named Cohen, but she took
the name of Blind after her step-father, the political writer, Karl
Blind (1826-1907), one of the exiled leaders of the Baden insurrection
in 1848-1849, and an ardent supporter of the various 19th-century
movements for the freedom and autonomy of struggling nationalities. The
family was compelled to take refuge in England, where Mathilde devoted
herself to literature and to the higher education of women. She produced
also three long poems, "The Prophecy of St Oran" (1881), "The Heather on
Fire" (1886), an indignant protest against the evictions in the
Highlands, and "The Ascent of Man" (1888), which was to be the epic of
the theory of evolution. She wrote biographies of George Eliot (1883)
and Madame Roland (1886), and translated D.F. Strauss's _The Old Faith
and the New_ (1873-1874) and the _Memoirs of Marie Bashkirtseff_ (1890).
She died on the 26th of November 1896, bequeathing her property to
Newnham College, Cambridge.

  A complete edition of her poems was edited by Mr Arthur Symons in
  1900, with a biographical introduction by Dr Richard Garnett.




BLIND HOOKEY, a game of chance, played with a full pack of cards. The
deal, which is an advantage, is decided as at whist, the cards being
shuffled and cut as at whist. The dealer gives a parcel of cards to each
player including himself. Each player puts the amount of his stake on
his cards, which he must not look at. The dealer has to take all bets.
He then turns up his parcel, exposing the bottom card. Each player in
turn does the same, winning or losing according as his cards are higher
or lower than the dealer's. Ties pay the dealer. The cards rank as at
whist. The suits are of no importance, the cards taking precedence
according to their face-value.




BLINDING, a form of punishment anciently common in many lands, being
inflicted on thieves, adulterers, perjurers and other criminals. The
inhabitants of Apollonia (Illyria) are said to have inflicted this
penalty on their "watch" when found asleep at their posts. It was
resorted to by the Roman emperors in their persecutions of the
Christians. The method of destroying the sight varied. Sometimes a
mixture of lime and vinegar, or barely scalding vinegar alone, was
poured into the eyes. Sometimes a rope was twisted round the victim's
head till the eyes started out of their sockets. In the middle ages the
punishment seems to have been changed from total blindness to a
permanent injury to the eyes, amounting, however, almost to blindness,
produced by holding a red-hot iron dish or basin before the face. Under
the forest laws of the Norman kings of England blinding was a common
penalty. Shakespeare makes King John order his nephew Arthur's eyes to
be burnt out.




BLINDMAN'S-BUFF (from an O. Fr. word, _buffe_, a blow, especially a blow
on the cheek), a game in which one player is blindfolded and made to
catch and identify one of the others, who in sport push him about and
"buffet" him.




BLINDNESS, the condition of being blind (a common Teutonic word), i.e.
devoid of sight (see also VISION; and EYE: _Diseases_). The data
furnished in various countries by the census of 1901 showed generally a
decrease in blindness, due to the progress in medical science, use of
antiseptics, better sanitation, control of infectious diseases, and
better protection in shops and factories. Blindness is much more common
in hot countries than in temperate and cold regions, but Finland and
Iceland are exceptions to the general rule.[1] In hot countries the eyes
are affected by the glaring sunlight, the dust and the dryness of the
air. From statistics in Italy, France and Belgium, localities on the
coast seem to have more blind persons than those at a distance from the
sea.

The following table gives the number of blind persons as reported in the
census of each country. Unless otherwise stated, it refers to the
statistics of 1900.

  +----------------------------------+--------+----------------+
  |                                  | Total  |    Number      |
  |             Country.             | Number.|  per Million   |
  |                                  |        | of Population. |
  +----------------------------------+--------+----------------+
  | Austria                          | 14,582 |      540       |
  | Belgium                          |   3448 |      487       |
  | Canada                           |   3279 |      610       |
  | Denmark                          |   1047 |      427       |
  | England                          | 25,317 |      778       |
  | France                           | 27,174 |      698       |
  | Finland[2]                       |   3229 |     1191       |
  | Germany                          | 34,334 |      609       |
  | Hungary                          | 19,377 |     1006       |
  | Ireland                          |   4263 |      954       |
  | Italy                            | 38,160 |     1175       |
  | Holland (1890)                   |   2114 |      414       |
  | Norway                           |   1879 |      838       |
  | Portugal                         |   5650 |     1040       |
  | Sweden                           |   3413 |      664       |
  | Switzerland (1895)               |   2107 |      722       |
  | Scotland                         |   3253 |      727       |
  | Spain (1877)                     | 24,608 |     1006       |
  | Russia                           |   · ·  | about 2000     |
  | United States (corrected census) | 85,662 |     1125       |
  +----------------------------------+--------+----------------+


CAUSES AND PREVENTION

There are many cases of complete or partial blindness which might have
been prevented, and a knowledge of the best methods of prevention and
cure should be spread as widely as possible. Magnus, Bremer, Steffen and
Rössler are of opinion that 40% of the cases of blindness might have
been prevented. Hayes gives 33.35% as positively avoidable, 38.75%
possibly avoidable, and 46.27% as a conservative estimate. Cohn regards
blindness as certainly preventable in 33%, as probably preventable in
43%, and as quite unpreventable in only 24%. If we take the lowest of
these figures, and assume that 400 out of every 1000 blind persons might
have been saved from such a calamity, we realize the importance of
preventative measures. For the physiology and pathology of the eye
generally, see VISION and EYE.


  Ophthalmia.

The great majority of these cases are due to infantile purulent
ophthalmia. This arises from inoculation of the eyes with hurtful
material at time of birth. If the contagious discharges are allowed to
remain, violent inflammation is set up which usually ends in the loss of
sight. It depends on the presence of a microbe, and the effective
application of a weak solution of nitrate of silver is curative, if made
in a proper manner at an early period of the case. In Germany, midwives
are expressly prohibited by law from treating any affection of the eyes
or eyelids of infants, however slight. On the appearance of the first
symptoms, they are required to represent to the parents, or others in
charge, that medical assistance is urgently needed, or, if necessary,
they are themselves to report to the local authorities and the district
doctor. Neglect of these regulations entails liability to punishment.
Eleven of the United States of America have enacted laws requiring that,
if one or both eyes of an infant should become inflamed, swollen or
reddened at any time within two weeks of its birth, it shall be the duty
of the midwife or nurse having charge of such infant to report in
writing within six hours, to the health officer or some legally
qualified physician, the fact that such inflammation, swelling or
redness exists. The penalty for failure to comply is fine or
imprisonment.

The following weighty words, from a paper prepared by Dr Park Lewis, of
Buffalo, N.Y., for the American Medical Association, show that laws are
not sufficient to prevent evil, unless supported by strong public
sentiment:--

  "When an enlightened, civilized and progressive nation quietly and
  passively, year after year, permits a multitude of its people
  unnecessarily to become blind, and more especially when one-quarter
  of these are infants, the reason for such a startling condition of
  affairs demands explanation. That such is the fact, practically all
  reliable ophthalmologists agree.

  "From a summary of carefully tabulated statistics it has been
  demonstrated that at least four-tenths of all existing blindness might
  have been avoided had proper preventative or curative measures been
  employed, while one-quarter of this, or one-tenth of the whole, is due
  to _ophthalmia neonatorum_, an infectious, preventable and almost
  absolutely curable disease. Perhaps this statement will take on a new
  meaning when it is added that there are in the state of New York alone
  more than 6000, and in the United States more than 50,000 blind
  people; of these 600 in the one state, and 5000 in the country, would
  have been saved from lives of darkness and unhappiness, in having lost
  all the joys that come through sight, and of more or less complete
  dependence--for no individual can be as self-sufficient without as
  with eyes--if a simple, safe and easily applied precautionary measure
  had been taken at the right time and in the right way to prevent this
  affliction. The following three vital facts are not questioned, but
  are universally accepted by those qualified to know:--

  "1. The ophthalmia of infancy is an infectious germ disease.

  "2. By the instillation of a silver salt in the eyes of a new-born
  infant the disease is prevented from developing in all but an
  exceedingly small number of the cases in which it would otherwise have
  appeared.

  "3. In practically all those few exceptional cases the disease is
  absolutely curable, if like treatment is employed at a sufficiently
  early period.

  "Since these facts are no longer subjects of discussion, but are
  universally accepted by all educated medical men, the natural inquiry
  follows: Why, as a common-sense proposition, are not these simple,
  harmless, preventive measures invariably employed, and why, in
  consequence of this neglect, does a nation sit quietly and
  indifferently by, making no attempt to prevent this enormous and
  needless waste of human eyes?

  "The reasons are three-fold, and lie--first, with the medical
  profession; second, with the lay public; third, with the state.

  "For the education of its blind children annually New York alone pays
  _per capita_ at least $350, and a yearly gross sum amounting to much
  more than $100,000. If, as sometimes happens, the blind citizen is a
  dependent throughout a long life, the cost of maintenance is not less
  than $10,000, and the mere cost in money will be multiplied many times
  in that a productive factor, by reason of blindness, has been removed
  from the community.

  "If, therefore, as an economic proposition, it were realized how
  vitally it concerns the state that not one child shall needlessly
  become blind, thereby increasing the public financial burden, there is
  no doubt that early and effective measures would be instituted to
  protect the state from this unnecessary and extravagant expenditure of
  public funds.

  "Eleven states have passed legislative enactments requiring that the
  midwife shall report each case to the proper health authority, and
  affixing a penalty for the failure to do so. As has been intimated,
  however, it is not by any means always under the ministration of
  midwives that these cases occur, and, like all laws behind which is
  not a strong and well-informed public sentiment, this law is rarely
  enforced. A more effective method must be devised. Every physician
  having to do with the parturient woman, every obstetrician, every
  midwife, must be frequently and constantly advised of the dangers and
  possibilities of this disease, the necessity of prevention, and the
  value of early and correct treatment. They must then have placed in
  their hands, ready for instant use, a safe and efficient preparation,
  issued by the health authorities as a guarantee as to its quality and
  efficiency.

  "An important step was taken in this direction when a resolution was
  passed by the House of Delegates at the annual meeting of the New York
  State Medical Society, requesting the various health officers of the
  state to include _ophthalmia neonatorum_ among contagious diseases
  which must be reported to the local boards of health.

  "The second essential, in order that the cause of infantile ophthalmia
  be abolished, is that a solution of the necessary silver salt be
  prepared under the authority of somebody capable of inspiring
  universal confidence, and that it be distributed by the health
  department of every state gratuitously to every obstetrician,
  physician or midwife qualified to care for the parturient woman. The
  nature of the solution, together with the character of the descriptive
  card which should accompany it, should be determined by a committee,
  chosen by the president of the American Medical Association, which
  should have among its members at least one representative
  ophthalmologist, one obstetrician and one sanitarian. The conclusions
  of this committee should be reported back to the House of Delegates,
  so that the preparation and its text should carry with it, on the
  great authority of this association, the assurance that the solution
  is entirely safe and necessary, and that its use should invariably be
  part of the toilet of every new-born child. The solution, probably
  silver nitrate, could be put up either by the state itself or by some
  trustworthy pharmacist, at an insignificant cost; its purity and
  sterility should be vouched for by the board of health of the state.
  It should be enclosed in specially prepared receptacles, each
  containing a special quantity, and so arranged that it may be used
  drop by drop. These, properly enclosed, accompanied by a brief lucid
  explanation of the danger of the disease, the necessity of this
  germicide, the method of its employment, and the right subsequent care
  of the eyes, should be sent to the obstetrician on the receipt of each
  birth certificate.

  "I have said that responsibility for the indifference that is annually
  resulting in such frightful disaster lies primarily with the state,
  the public and the medical profession.

  "The state is already aroused to the necessity of taking effective
  measures to wipe out this controllable plague. Bills have been
  introduced in the legislature of Massachusetts and of New York,
  providing for the appointment of commissions for the blind, one of
  whose duties will be to study the causes of unnecessary blindness and
  to suggest preventative measures."


  Trachoma.

One of the most common diseases of the eye is trachoma, often called
"granular lids," because the inner surface of the lid seems to be
covered with little granulations. The disease sometimes lasts for years
without causing blindness, though it gives rise to great irritation. It
is generally attended by a discharge, which is highly contagious,
producing the same disease if it gets into other eyes. Want of
cleanliness is one of the most important factors in the propagation of
trachoma, hence its great prevalence in Oriental countries. Trachoma is
very prevalent in Egypt, where those suffering from total or partial
blindness are said to amount to 10% of the population. During Napoleon's
Egyptian campaign, nearly every soldier, out of an army of 32,000 men,
was affected. During the following twenty years the disease spread
through almost all European armies. In the Belgian army, there was one
trachomatous soldier out of every five, and up to 1834 no less than 4000
soldiers had lost both eyes and 10,000 one eye. It is a disease which is
very common in workhouse schools, orphan asylums and similar
establishments. Unlike ophthalmia of new-born children, it is difficult
to cure, and a total separation of the diseased from the healthy
children should be effected.


  Sympathetic inflammation.

About one-half of those who are blinded by injuries lose the second eye
by sympathetic ophthalmia. It is a constant source of danger to those
who retain an eye blinded by injury. Blindness from this cause can be
prevented by the removal of the injured eye, but unfortunately the
proposal often meets with opposition from the patient.


  Glaucoma.

Glaucoma is a disease which almost invariably leads to total blindness;
but in most cases it can be arrested by a simple operation if the case
is seen sufficiently early.


  Short-sight.

Myopia, or "short-sight," makes itself apparent in children between the
ages of seven and nine. Neglect of a year or two may do serious
mischief. Short-sight, when not inherited, is produced by looking
intently and continuously at near objects. Children should be encouraged
to describe objects at a distance, with which they are unacquainted, and
parents should choose out-door occupations and amusements for children
who show a tendency to shortsightedness.

A report was issued in 1906, by the school board of Glasgow, as to an
investigation by Dr H. Wright Thomas, ophthalmic surgeon, regarding the
eyesight of school children, which includes the following passage. Dr
Wright Thomas states that the teachers tested the visual acuteness of
52,493 children, and found 18,565, or 35%, to be below what is regarded
as the normal standard. He examined the 18,565 defectives by
retinoscopy, and found that 11,209, or 21% of the whole, had ocular
defects. The proportion of these cases was highest in the poor and
closely-built districts and in old schools, and was lowest in the
better-class schools and those near the outskirts of the city. Defective
vision, apart from ocular defect, seems to be due partly to want of
training of the eyes for distant objects and partly to exhaustion of the
eyes, which is easily induced when work is carried on in bad light, or
the nutrition of the children is defective from bad feeding and
unhealthy surroundings. Regarding training of the eyes for distant
objects, much might be done in the infant department by the total
abolition of sewing, which is definitely hurtful to such young eyes, and
the substitution of competitive games involving the recognition of
small objects at a distance of 20 ft. or more. An annual testing by the
teachers, followed by medical inspection of the children found
defective, would soon cause all existing defects to be corrected, and
would lead to the detection of those which develop during school life.


HISTORY OF INSTITUTIONS

Although there is a record of a hospital established by St Basil at
Caesarea, Cappadocia, in the 4th century, a refuge by the hermit St
Lymnee (d. c. 455) at Syr, Syria, in the 5th century, and an institution
by St Bertrand, bishop of Le Mans, in the 7th century, the first public
effort to benefit the blind was the founding of a hospital at Paris, in
1260, by Louis IX., for 300 blind persons. The common legend is that he
founded it as an asylum for 300 of his soldiers who had become blinded
in the crusade in Egypt, but the statutes of the founder are preserved,
and no mention is made of crusaders. This Hospice des Quinze-Vingts,
increased by subsequent additions to its funds, still assists the adult
blind of France. The pensioners are divided into two classes--those who
are inmates of the hospital (300), and those who receive pensions in the
form of out-door relief. All appointments to inmates or pensions are
vested in the minister of the Interior, and applicants must be of French
nationality, totally blind and not less than forty years of age.

From the time of St Louis to the 18th century, there are records of
isolated cases of blind persons who were educated, and of efforts to
devise tangible apparatus to assist them.

Girolamo Cardan, the 16th-century Italian physician, conceived the idea
that the blind could be taught to read and write by means of touch.
About 1517 Francesco Lucas in Spain, and Rampazetto in Italy, made use
of large letters cut in wood for instructing the blind. In 1646 a book,
on the condition of the blind, was written by an Italian, and published
in Italian and French, under the title of _L'Aveugle affligé et
consolé_. In 1670 a book was written on the instruction of the blind by
Lana Terzi, the Jesuit. In 1676 Jacques Bernoulli, the Swiss savant,
taught a blind girl to read, but the means of her instruction were not
made known. In 1749 D. Diderot wrote his _Lettre sur les aveugles à
l'usage de ceux qui voient_, to show how far the intellectual and moral
nature of man is modified by blindness. Dr S.G. Howe, who many years
after translated and printed the "Letter" in embossed type,
characterizes it as abounding with errors of fact and inference, but
also with beauties and suggestions. The heterodox speculations contained
in his "Letter on the Blind" caused Diderot to be imprisoned three
months in the Bastille. He was released because his services were
required for the forthcoming _Encyclopaedia_. Rousseau visited Diderot
in prison, and is reported to have suggested a system of embossed
printing. J. Locke, G.W. Leibnitz, Molineau and others discussed the
effect of blindness on the human mind. In Germany, Weissembourg had used
signs in relief and taught Mlle Paradis.

Prior to the 18th century, blind beggars existed in such numbers that
they struggled for standing room in positions favourable for asking
alms. Their very affliction led to their being used as spectacles for
the amusement of the populace. The degraded state of the masses of the
blind in France attracted the attention of Valentin Haüy. In 1771, at
the annual fair of St Ovid, in Paris, an innkeeper had a group of blind
men attired in a ridiculous manner, decorated with peacock tails, asses'
ears, and pasteboard spectacles without glasses, in which condition they
gave a burlesque concert, for the profit of their employer. This sad
scene was repeated day after day, and greeted with loud laughter by the
gaping crowds. Among those who gazed at this outrage to humanity was the
philanthropist Valentin Haüy, who left the disgraceful scene full of
sorrow. "Yes," he said to himself, "I will substitute truth for this
mocking parody. I will make the blind to read, and they shall be enabled
to execute harmonious music." Haüy collected all the information he
could gain respecting the blind, and began teaching a blind boy who had
gained his living by begging at a church door. Encouraged by the
success of his pupil, Haüy collected other blind persons, and in 1785
founded in Paris the first school for the blind (the Institution
Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles), and commenced the first printing in
raised characters. In 1786, before Louis XVI. and his court at
Versailles, he exhibited the attainments of his pupils in reading,
writing, arithmetic, geography and music, and in the same year published
an account of his methods, entitled _Essai sur l'education des
aveugles_. As the novelty wore off, contributions almost came to an end,
and the Blind School must have ceased to exist, had it not been taken,
in 1791, under the protection of the state.

The emperor of Russia, and later the dowager empress, having learned of
Haüy's work, invited him to visit St Petersburg for the purpose of
establishing a similar institution in the Russian capital. On his
journey Haüy was invited by the king of Prussia to Charlottenburg. He
took part in the deliberations of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin, and
as a result a school was founded there.

Edward Rushton, a blind man, was the projector of the first institution
for the blind in England--the School for the Indigent Blind, Liverpool.
In 1790 Rushton suggested to the literary and philosophical society of
which he was a member, the establishment of a benefit club for the
indigent blind. The idea was communicated to his friend, J. Christie, a
blind musician, and the latter thought the scheme should also include
the instruction of young blind persons. They circulated letters amongst
individuals who would be likely to give their assistance, and the Rev.
Henry Dannett warmly advocated the undertaking. It was mainly due to his
co-operation and zeal that Messrs Rushton and Christie's plan was
carried out, and the Liverpool asylum was opened in 1791. Thomas
Blacklock of Edinburgh, a blind poet and scholar, translated Haüy's work
on the _Education of the Blind_. He interested Mr David Millar, a blind
gentleman, the Rev. David Johnston and others in the subject, and after
Blacklock's death the Edinburgh Asylum for the Relief of the Indigent
and Industrious Blind was established (1793). Institutions were
established in the United Kingdom in the following order:--

  School for the Indigent Blind, Liverpool             1791
  Royal Blind Asylum, Edinburgh                        1793
  Bristol Asylum                                       1793
  School for the Indigent Blind Southwark (now
    removed to Leatherhead)                            1799
  Norwich Asylum and School                            1805
  Richmond Asylum, Dublin                              1810
  Aberdeen Asylum                                      1812
  Molyneux Asylum, Dublin                              1815
  Glasgow Asylum and School                            1827
  Belfast School                                       1831
  Wilberforce School, York                             1833
  Limerick Asylum                                      1834
  London Society for Teaching the Blind to Read, St
    John's Wood, N.                                    1838
  Royal Victoria School for the Blind,
    Newcastle-on-Tyne                                  1838
  West of England Institute for the Blind, Exeter      1838
  Henshaw's Blind Asylum, Manchester                   1839
  County and City of Cork Asylum                       1840
  Catholic Asylum, Liverpool                           1841
  Brighton Asylum                                      1842
  Midland Institute for the Blind, Nottingham          1843
  General Institute for the Blind, Birmingham          1848
  Macan Asylum, Armagh                                 1854
  St Joseph's Asylum, Dublin                           1858
  St Mary's Asylum, Dublin                             1858
  Institute for the Blind, Devonport                   1860
  South Devon and Cornwall Institute for the Blind,
    Plymouth                                           1860
  School for the Blind, Southsea                       1864
  Institute for the Blind, Dundee                      1865
  South Wales Institute for the Blind, Swansea         1865
  School for the Blind, Leeds                          1866
  College for the Sons of Gentlemen, Worcester         1866
  Northern Counties Institute for the Blind, Inverness 1866
  Royal Normal College and Academy of Music for the
    Blind, Upper Norwood                               1872
  School for the Blind, Sheffield                      1879
  Barclay Home and School for Blind Girls, Brighton    1893
  Homes for Blind Children, Preston                    1895
  North Stafford School, Stoke-on-Trent                1897


Many of the early institutions were asylums, and to the present day
schools for the blind are regarded by the public as asylums rather than
as educational establishments. With nearly all these schools workshops
were connected. In 1856 Miss Gilbert, the blind daughter of the bishop
of Chichester, established a workshop in Berners Street, London, and
since that date workshops have been started in many of the provincial
towns.

After the beginning of the 19th century, institutions for the blind were
established in various parts of Europe. The institution at Vienna was
founded in 1804 by Dr W. Klein, a blind man, and he remained at its head
for fifty years. That of Berlin was established in 1806, Amsterdam,
Prague and Dresden in 1808, Copenhagen in 1811. There are more than 150
on the European continent, most of them receiving aid from the
government, and being under government supervision.

The first school for the blind in the United States was founded in
Boston, Mass., chiefly through the efforts of Dr John D. Fisher, a young
physician who visited the French school. It was incorporated in 1829,
and in honour of T.H. Perkins (1764-1854) who gave his mansion to the
institution was named the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum
(now School) for the Blind. Aid was granted by the state from the
beginning. In 1831 Dr Samuel G. Howe (q.v.) was appointed director,
and held that position for nearly forty-four years; being succeeded by
his son-in-law Michael Anagnos (d. 1906), who established a kindergarten
for the blind at Jamaica Plain, in connexion with the Perkins
Institution. Dr Howe was interested in many charitable and sociological
movements, but his life-work was on behalf of the blind. One of his most
notable achievements was the education of Laura Bridgman (q.v.) who
was deaf, dumb and blind, and this has since led to the education of
Helen Keller and other blind deaf-mutes. The New York Institution was
incorporated in 1831, and the Pennsylvania Institution was founded at
Philadelphia by the Society of Friends in 1833. The Ohio was founded at
Columbus in 1837, Virginia at Staunton in 1839, Kentucky at Louisville
in 1842, Tennessee at Nashville in 1844, and now every state in the
Union makes provision for the education of the blind.


STATISTICS

  England and Wales.

In England and Wales the total number of persons returned in 1901 as
afflicted with blindness was 25,317, being in the proportion of 778 per
million living, or 1 blind person in every 1285 of the population. The
following table shows that the proportion of blind persons to population
has diminished at each successive enumeration since 1851, in which year
particulars of those afflicted in this manner were ascertained for the
first time. It will, however, be noted that, although the decrease in
the proportion of blind in the latest intercensal period was still
considerable, yet the rate of decrease which had obtained between 1871
and 1891 was not maintained.--

  +------+-----------+-------------------+-------------------+
  | Year.| Number of | Blind per Million | Persons Living to |
  |      |   Blind.  | of the Population | one Blind Person. |
  +------+-----------+-------------------+-------------------+
  | 1851 |  18,306   |       1021        |         979       |
  | 1861 |  19,352   |        964        |        1037       |
  | 1871 |  21,590   |        951        |        1052       |
  | 1881 |  22,832   |        879        |        1138       |
  | 1891 |  23,467   |        809        |        1236       |
  | 1901 |  25,317   |        778        |        1285       |
  +------+-----------+-------------------+-------------------+

The following table, which gives the proportions of blind per million
living at the earlier age-groups, shows that in the decennium 1891-1901,
as also in recent previous intercensal periods, there was a decrease in
the proportion of blind children in England and Wales generally; it thus
lends support to the contention, in the _General Report_ for 1891, that
the decrease was due either to the lesser prevalence, or to the more
efficient treatment, of purulent ophthalmia and other infantile maladies
which may result in blindness.

  +----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
  |   Age-Period.  | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 |
  +----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
  | Under 5 years  | 198  | 196  | 185  | 166  | 155  | 129  |
  |      5-10      | 297  | 256  | 259  | 288  | 188  | 192  |
  |     10-15      | 365  | 366  | 359  |  "   | 290  | 323  |
  |     15-20      | 416  | 415  | 404  | 388  | 370  | 239  |
  |     20-25      | 481  | 443  | 451  | 422  | 385  | 359  |
  +----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
  | Total under 25 | 339  | 322  | 317  | 298  | 269  | 261  |
  +----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+

In 1886 a royal commission on the blind, deaf and dumb was appointed by
the government, and, after taking much valuable evidence, issued an
exhaustive and instructive report. Following on the practical
recommendations submitted by this commission, the Elementary Education
(Blind and Deaf Children) Act 1893, was passed, under which the
education of the blind became for the first time compulsory. In terms of
this statute, the school authorities were made responsible for the
provision of suitable elementary education for blind children up to
sixteen years of age, and grants of £3, 3s. for elementary subjects, and
of £2, 2s. for industrial training, were contributed by the state
towards the cost of educating children in schools certified as efficient
within the meaning of the Elementary Education Act 1876. The principal
aim of the Education Act of 1893 was to supply education in some useful
profession or trade which will enable the blind to earn their livelihood
and to become useful citizens; but the weak spot was that no provision
was made therein for the completion of their education and industrial
training after the age of sixteen.

In England and Wales, in 1907, there were twenty-four resident schools
and forty-three workshops for the blind. In many of the large towns, day
classes for the education of blind children have been established by
local education authorities. There are forty-six home teaching
societies, who send teachers to visit the blind in their homes, to teach
adults who wish to learn to read, to act as colporteurs, to lend and
exchange useful books, and to act as Scripture readers to those who are
aged and infirm. All the home teaching societies for the blind and many
public libraries lend embossed books. The public library at Oxford has
nearly 400 volumes of classical works for the use of university
students.

A society was instituted in 1847 by Dr W. Moon for stereotyping and
embossing the Scriptures and other books in "Moon" type. The type has
been adapted to over 400 languages and dialects. After Dr Moon's death
in 1884 the work was carried on by his daughter, Miss Adelaide Moon, and
the books are much used by the adult blind.

In 1868 Dr T.R. Armitage, being aware of the great improvements which
had been made in the education of the blind in other countries, founded
the British and Foreign Blind Association. This association was formed
for the purpose of promoting the education and employment of the blind,
by ascertaining what had been done in these respects in various
countries, by endeavouring to supply deficiencies where these were found
to exist, and by attempting to bring about greater harmony of action
between the different existing schools and institutions. It gave a new
impetus to the education and training of the blind in the United
Kingdom. At that time their education was in a state of chaos. The
Bible, or a great part of it, had been printed in five different
systems. The founders took as an axiom that the relative merits of the
various methods of education through the sense of touch should be
decided by those and those only who have to rely on this sense. The
council, who were all totally or partially blind, spent two years in
comparing the different systems of embossed print. In 1869 and 1870 Dr
Armitage corresponded with Dr J.R. Russ in regard to the New York Point.
No trouble was spared to arrive at a right conclusion. The Braille
system was finally adopted, and the association at once became a centre
for supplying frames for writing Braille, printed books, maps, music and
other educational apparatus for the blind. All books printed by the
association are printed from stereotyped plates embossed by blind
copyists. About 3000 separate works, varying in length from 1 to 12
volumes, have been copied by hand to meet the requirements of public
libraries and individuals. About 700 ladies, who give their services,
make the first Braille copy of these books, and they are recopied by
blind scribes, chiefly women and girls, who are paid for their work.

The National Lending library, London, was founded in 1882. It has over
5500 volumes in Braille and other types. Books are forwarded to all
parts of the United Kingdom.

There are fourteen magazines published in embossed type in the United
Kingdom.

There are thirty-six pension societies--the principal are
Hetherington's, Day's, the Clothworkers', the Cordwainers', the National
Blind Relief Society, Royal Blind Pension Society and Indigent Blind
Visiting Society.

The Gardner Trust administers the income of £300,000 left by Henry
Gardner in 1879. The income is used for instructing the blind in the
profession of music, in suitable trades, handicrafts and professions
other than music, for pensions, and free grants to institutions and
individuals for special purposes.


    Scotland.

  According to the census of 1901, Scotland had 3253 (or 727 per
  million) blind persons, as against 2797 in 1891, but in a paper read
  at the conference in Edinburgh, 1906, the superintendent of the
  Glasgow Mission to the Out-door Blind stated that there were 758
  employed or being educated in institutions, and 3238 known as
  "out-door blind," making a total of 3996. There are in Scotland ten
  missions, so distributed as to cover the whole country, and regular
  visits are made as far north as the Orkney and Shetland Islands. In
  carrying on the work, there are twenty-four paid missionaries or
  teachers and a large number of voluntary helpers. These societies
  originated in a desire to teach the blind to read in their own homes,
  and to provide them with the Scriptures and other religious books, but
  the social, intellectual and temporal needs of the blind also receive
  a large share of attention. These teachers afford the best means of
  circulating embossed literature, therefore the library committee of
  the Glasgow corporation has agreed to purchase books and place them in
  the mission library instead of in the public library. As the
  institutions provide for only a small number of the blind, strenuous
  efforts are made by the committee and teachers of missions to find
  some employment for the many adults who come under their care.

  In Glasgow, a ladies' auxiliary furnishes work for 150 knitters, and
  takes the responsibility of disposing of their work. In Scotland there
  are five schools for the young blind, and in connexion with each is a
  workshop for adults. In Edinburgh the school is at West Craigmillar,
  and the workshop in the city, but both are under the same board of
  directors.


    Ireland.

  According to the census of 1901, there were 4253 totally blind persons
  in Ireland, a proportion of 954 per million, as against 1135 in 1891.
  Of these, 2430 were over 60 years of age and 11 over 100. These
  figures do not include the partially blind, who numbered 1217. The
  fact that so many aged blind persons are to be found in Ireland is
  doubtless due to an ophthalmic epidemic which occurred during the
  Irish famine. There are twelve institutions, a home mission and home
  teaching society; nine of these institutions are asylums, that system
  having been largely adopted in Ireland. The scarcity of manufacturing
  industries, except in a few northern counties, entails a lack of work
  suited to the blind. The Elementary Education Act (Blind and Deaf)
  does not extend to Ireland.

  The following table gives the number of blind in age-groups in 1901:--

    +---------------+---------+----------------+---------+
    |  Age-Period.  | Number. |   Age-Period.  | Number. |
    +---------------+---------+----------------+---------+
    | Under 5 years |    10   |      50-55     |   392   |
    |      5-10     |    38   |      55-60     |   314   |
    |     10-15     |    64   |      60-65     |   617   |
    |     15-20     |    73   |      65-70     |   382   |
    |     20-25     |    95   |      70-75     |   540   |
    |     25-30     |   116   |      75-80     |   306   |
    |     30-35     |   146   |      80-85     |   372   |
    |     35-40     |   146   |      85-90     |   118   |
    |     40-45     |   205   | 95 and upwards |    95   |
    |     45-50     |   224   |                |         |
    +---------------+---------+----------------+---------+


    British Colonies.

  In the Dominion of Canada, South Africa, the states of the Australian
  Commonwealth and New Zealand, provision is made by the government for
  the education of the young blind, and in some cases for training the
  adults in handicrafts. Embossed literature is carried free of expense,
  and on the Victorian railways no charge is made for the guide who
  accompanies a blind person.

  The following were the census returns for 1901:--

    Victoria           1082      Tasmania        173
    New South Wales     884      New Zealand     274 (1891)
    South Australia     315      Natal            68
    Queensland          209      Cape Colony    2802 (1904)
    West Australia      121      Canada         3279

  In Australia there are institutions for the blind at Melbourne,
  Sydney, Adelaide, Brighton, Brisbane and Maylands near Perth. In New
  Zealand the institution is at Auckland.

  In Cape Colony between 1875 and 1891, there was an extraordinary
  increase in blindness, but between 1891 and 1904 the rate per 10,000
  has decreased 23.78%. There is an institution at Worcester for
  deaf-mutes and blind, founded in 1881. It is supported by a government
  grant, fees and subscription.

  Schools for the blind were established by the Dominion government at
  Brantford, Ontario (1871), and Halifax, Nova Scotia (1867).

  In Montreal there are two private institutions, the M'Kay Institute
  for Protestant Deaf-Mutes and Blind, and a school for Roman Catholic
  children under the charge of the Sisters of Charity.


  United States.

In the United States the education of the blind is not regarded as a
charity, but forms part of the educational system of the country, and is
carried on at the public expense. According to the _Annual Report_ of
the Commissioner of Education for 1908, there were 40 state schools,
with 4340 pupils. The value of apparatus, grounds and buildings was
$9,201,161. For salaries and other expenditure, the aggregate was
$1,460,732. The United States government appropriates $10,000 annually
for printing embossed books, which are distributed among the different
state schools for the blind. Beside these state schools, there are
workshops for the blind subsidized by the state government or the
municipality. Commissions composed of able men have recently been
appointed in several of the states to take charge of the affairs of the
blind from infancy to old age. The exhaustive summary of the 12th census
enables these commissions to communicate with every blind person in
their respective states.

At the 12th census a change was made in the plan for securing the
returns, and the work of the enumerators was restricted to a brief
preliminary return, showing only the name, sex, age, post office
address, and nature of the existing defects in all persons alleged to be
blind or deaf. Dr Alexander Graham Bell, of Washington, D.C., was
appointed expert special agent of the census office for the preparation
of a report on the deaf and blind. He was empowered to conduct in his
own name a correspondence relating to this branch of the census inquiry.
A circular containing eighteen questions was addressed to every blind
person given in the census, and from the data contained in the replies
the following tables (I., II., III., IV.) have been compiled.

TABLE I.--_The Blind, by Degree of Blindness and Sex._

  +----------------------------+--------+---------+-----------+
  |                            |  The   |   The   |    The    |
  |            Sex.            | Blind. | Totally | Partially |
  |                            |        |  Blind. |   Blind.  |
  +----------------------------+--------+---------+-----------+
  | Number--                   |        |         |           |
  |    Total                   | 64,763 | 35,645  |  29,118   |
  |      Male                  | 37,054 | 20,144  |  16,190   |
  |      Female                | 27,709 | 15,501  |  12,208   |
  +----------------------------+--------+---------+-----------+
  | Per cent distribution--    |        |         |           |
  |    Total                   |  100.0 |  100.0  |   100.0   |
  |      Male                  |   57.2 |   56.5  |    58.1   |
  |      Female                |   42.8 |   43.5  |    41.9   |
  |                            |        |         |           |
  | Number per 1,000,000       |        |         |           |
  |   population of same sex-- |        |         |           |
  |    Both sexes              |    852 |    469  |     383   |
  |      Male                  |    955 |    519  |     436   |
  |      Female                |    745 |    417  |     328   |
  +----------------------------+--------+---------+-----------+

TABLE II.--_The Blind, by Degree of Blindness, Age-Periods, Colour and
Nativity._

  +--------------------------+----------+----------------------------+----------+
  |                          |          |           White.           |          |
  | Degree of Blindness and  |   All    +--------+---------+---------+ Coloured.|
  |        Age-Period.       | Classes. | Total. | Native. | Foreign-|          |
  |                          |          |        |         |  born.  |          |
  +--------------------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+----------+
  | Number--                 |          |        |         |         |          |
  |   The blind              |  64,763  | 56,535 | 45,479  | 10,694  |   8228   |
  |     Under 20 years       |   8,308  |  7,252 |  6,937  |    231  |   1056   |
  |     20 years and over    |  56,165  | 49,067 | 38,388  | 10,420  |   7098   |
  |     Age unknown          |     290  |    216 |    154  |     43  |     74   |
  +--------------------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+----------+
  |   The totally blind      |  35,645  | 30,359 | 23,636  |  6,511  |   5286   |
  |     Under 20 years       |   4,123  |  3,543 |  3,377  |    129  |    580   |
  |     20 years and over    |  31,363  | 26,704 | 20,179  |  6,636  |   4639   |
  |     Age unknown          |     159  |    112 |     80  |     19  |     27   |
  +--------------------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+----------+
  |   The partially blind    |  29,118  | 26,176 | 21,843  |  4,183  |   2942   |
  |     Under 20 years       |   4,185  |  3,709 |  3,560  |    102  |    476   |
  |     20 years and over    |  24,802  | 22,363 | 18,209  |  4,057  |   2439   |
  |     Age unknown          |     131  |    104 |     74  |     24  |     27   |
  +--------------------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+----------+
  | Number per 1,000,000     |          |        |         |         |          |
  |  population of same age--|          |        |         |         |          |
  |   The blind              |     852  |    846 |    804  |  1,047  |    896   |
  |     Under 20 years       |     247  |    250 |    248  |    215  |    229   |
  |     20 years and over    |   1,334  |  1,305 |  1,348  |  1,143  |   1574   |
  +--------------------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+----------+
  |   The totally blind      |     469  |    454 |    418  |    637  |    576   |
  |     Under 20 years       |     123  |    122 |    121  |    120  |    126   |
  |     20 years and over    |     745  |    710 |    708  |    698  |   1033   |
  +--------------------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+----------+
  |   The partially blind    |     383  |    392 |    386  |    410  |    320   |
  |     Under 20 years       |     124  |    128 |    127  |     95  |    103   |
  |     20 years and over    |     589  |    595 |    639  |    445  |    541   |
  +--------------------------+----------+--------+---------+---------+----------+

  The enumerators reported a total of 101,123 persons alleged to be
  blind as defined in the instructions contained in the schedules, but
  this number was greatly reduced as a result of the correspondence
  directly with the individuals, 8842 reporting that the alleged defect
  did not exist, and 6544 that they were blind only in one eye but were
  able to see with the other, and hence did not come within the scope of
  the inquiry. No replies were received in 19,884 cases in which
  personal schedules were sent, although repeated inquiries were made;
  consequently these cases were dropped. In 380 cases the personal
  schedules returned were too incomplete for use, and in 75 cases
  duplication was discovered. The number of cases remaining for
  statistical treatment, after making the eliminations and corrections,
  was 64,763, representing 35,645 totally blind, and 29,118 partially
  blind. This number, however, can be considered only as the minimum, as
  an unknown proportion of the blind were not located by the
  enumerators, and doubtless a considerable proportion of the 19,884
  persons who failed to return the personal schedules should be included
  in the total.

  "Blindness, either total or partial, is so largely a defect of the
  aged, and occurs with so much greater frequency as the age advances
  and the population diminishes, that in any comparison of the
  proportion of the blind in the general population of different
  classes, such as native and foreign-born whites, or white and
  coloured, the age distribution of the population of each class should
  be constantly borne in mind. The differences in this respect account
  for many of the differences in the gross ratios, and it is only when
  ratios are compared for classes of population of identical ages that
  their relative liability to blindness can be properly inferred."

  Table II. shows the classification, by degree of blindness, of the
  blind under twenty years of age, twenty years of age and over, and of
  unknown age, with respect to colour and nativity, with the number at
  the specified ages per million of population in the same age-group.

  The relationship or consanguinity of parents of the 64,763 blind was
  reported in 56,507 cases, in 2527 (or 4.5%) of which the parents were
  related as cousins.

  In 57,726 cases the inquiry as to the existence of blind relatives was
  answered; 10,967 (or 19%) of this number reported that they had blind
  relatives.

  Of the 2527 blind persons whose parents were cousins, 993 (or 39.3%)
  had blind relatives,--844 having blind brothers, sisters or ancestors,
  and 149 having blind collateral relatives or descendants.

  Of the 53,980 blind whose parents were not related, 9490 (or 17.6%)
  had blind relatives, 7395 having blind brothers, sisters or ancestors,
  and 2095 having blind collateral relatives or descendants.

  It was found that, of the 2527 blind whose parents were cousins, 632
  (or 25%) were congenitally blind, of whom 350 (or 55.4%) had also
  blind relatives of the classes specified; while, among the 53,980
  whose parents were not so related, the number of congenitally blind
  was 3666 (or but 6.8%), of whom only 1023 (or 27.9%) had blind
  relatives.


    France.

  In 1883 the number of blind in France was estimated at 32,056, the
  total population of the country being 38,000,000; 2548 of the blind
  were under, and 29,508 above, 21 years of age; of the former 857 were
  receiving instruction in 21 schools supported by the state, by the
  city of Paris, by some of the departments, and by some religious
  bodies. The four Parisian institutions are the Institution Nationale
  des Jeunes Aveugles, the École Braille (founded in 1883), the
  Établissement des Soeurs Aveugles de St Paul (founded in 1852), and
  that of the Frères de Saint Jean de Dieu (founded in 1875).

  TABLE III.--_The Blind, by Degree of Blindness and Age-Periods._

    +--------------------------+----------+----------+-----------+
    |                          |   The    |   The    |    The    |
    |      Age-Period.         |  Blind.  | Totally  | Partially |
    |                          |          |  Blind.  |   Blind.  |
    +--------------------------+----------+----------+-----------+
    | Number--                 |          |          |           |
    |   All Ages               |  64,763  |  35,645  |  29,118   |
    |     Under 10 years       |   2,307  |   1,262  |   1,045   |
    |        10-19 years       |   6,001  |   2,861  |   3,140   |
    |        20-29   "         |   4,861  |   2,851  |   2,010   |
    |        30-39   "         |   5,024  |   3,077  |   1,947   |
    |        40-49   "         |   6,504  |   3,778  |   2,726   |
    |        50-59   "         |   8,530  |   4,791  |   3,739   |
    |        60-69   "         |  10,507  |   5,835  |   4,672   |
    |        70-79   "         |  11,421  |   6,132  |   5,289   |
    |        80-89   "         |   7,490  |   3,885  |   3,605   |
    |        90-99   "         |   1,596  |     851  |     745   |
    |     100 years and over   |     232  |     163  |      69   |
    |     Age unknown          |     290  |     159  |     131   |
    | Number per 1,000,000     |          |          |           |
    |  population of same age--|          |          |           |
    |   All ages               |     852  |     469  |     383   |
    |     Under 10 years       |     128  |      70  |      58   |
    |        10-19 years       |     384  |     183  |     201   |
    |        20-29   "         |     351  |     206  |     145   |
    |        30-39   "         |     478  |     293  |     185   |
    |        40-49   "         |     845  |     491  |     354   |
    |        50-59   "         |   1,655  |     930  |     725   |
    |        60-69   "         |   3,396  |   1,886  |   1,510   |
    |        70-79   "         |   8,136  |   4,368  |   3,768   |
    |        80-89   "         |  22,022  |  11,423  |  10,599   |
    |        90-99   "         |  52,746  |  28,125  |  24,621   |
    |     100 years and over   |  66,210  |  46,518  |  19,692   |
    |     Age unknown          |   1,446  |     793  |     653   |
    +--------------------------+----------+----------+-----------+


    Germany.

  The number of the blind in Germany was about 39,000, or 870 per
  million in 1885. The number of institutions was 28, nearly all being
  educational, with a total of 2139 pupils. All these institutions,
  except two which are supported entirely by private munificence, are
  largely assisted by the state, the communes or the provinces.
  Seventeen of them derive their entire requirements from the state, so
  that they are quite independent of private charity, while the
  remainder are only supplemented from public funds so far as the
  private contributions fall short of the expenses.


    Saxony system.

  The following extracts were made from an official communication from
  Hofrath Büttner, director of the institution for the blind in Dresden,
  to the royal commission, concerning the care and supervision
  (_Fürsorge_) of the blind after their discharge from the
  institution:--

  "When twenty years of age, the blind are usually discharged from the
  institution. Long experience has taught us that the care and
  supervision of the blind after their discharge from the institution
  are quite as important as their education and training in the
  institution. It would, in our opinion, be unjust to remove them from
  their sad surroundings, educate and accustom them to higher wants, and
  then allow them to sink backward into their former miserable way of
  life. After much deliberation it was decided to remain in connexion
  with the discharged blind, to visit them in their places of abode, to
  learn their wants, to study the difficulties which they experienced in
  supporting themselves independently, and, as far as possible, to
  remove their grievances. Director Georgi began this work in 1843.
  Director Reinhard continued it from 1867 to 1879, and the present
  director has followed the same path. With the knowledge of these
  difficulties the _Fürsorge_ (care) for discharged blind steadily
  advanced, and has won the confidence of the Saxon people. It was
  decided that, on the discharge of the blind person, the director
  should select a trustworthy person, residing in his future place of
  abode, to give him advice and practical help, to protect him from
  imposition, and to keep up communication with the director. If this
  guardian is unable to advise or help, he then writes to the director,
  who, if necessary, comes to the place, and this is all the easier as
  he travels free on all railways in Saxony. The result of these visits,
  as well as all communications from the guardian, the letters from the
  blind person, and every document relating to him, are entered in a
  register kept at the institution. These guardians are respectable,
  benevolent, practical men, capable of procuring custom for their
  wards. But there was no doubt that, in spite of these arrangements,
  the discharged blind were unable to support themselves without the
  assistance of capital, whether in money or outfit. The blind man can
  do as good work as the man who can see; but as a rule he does not work
  so quickly, and if the man who is not blind has to use every exertion
  to support himself and his family, the blind man to do the same
  requires some special help, without which he will either not be able
  to compete, or will have to lead a life of great privation.

  "The first difficulty when a blind pupil is starting in life is to
  provide himself with the necessary tools and material. These the
  institution supplies to him, and continues through life to afford him
  moral and material help; and by this means the greater part of the
  blind are enabled to save money for sickness and old age. Those who
  cannot return to their relations cannot at once meet all their
  expenses, and the weak and old need special help. A part of the money
  for their board and lodging is paid for those who have to be settled
  in other places on account of the death or untrustworthiness of their
  relatives.

  "The fund for the discharged blind is administered by the director of
  the institution. The number of those assisted amounts at present to
  about 400, who live respectably in all parts of Saxony, are almost
  self-supporting, and feel themselves free men. For, just as a son does
  not feel galled by a gift from his father, so they are not ashamed to
  receive assistance from their second paternal home, the institution."


    Holland.

  The number of the blind in Holland, according to the census of the 1st
  of December 1869, was 1593, or one in every 2247 of the general
  population. The Protestants and Roman Catholics were about equally
  balanced. No cognizance was taken of the blind in the census of 1879.
  There is only one blind institution, that of Amsterdam, with 60
  pupils, with a preparatory school at Benuchem (with 20 pupils) and an
  asylum for adults with 52 inmates (unmarried). Besides these, there
  are workshops at Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague, Utrecht and
  Middelburg.


    Denmark.

  According to the census of 1870, there were in Denmark 1249 blind (577
  males and 672 females), or one blind for every 1428 persons. One
  institution has been established by government, i.e. the Royal
  Institution for the Blind, at Copenhagen; 100 children, aged 10 and
  upwards, are here educated. There is a preparatory school for blind
  children under 10 years of age, and an asylum for blind females, most
  of whom are former pupils of the royal school. An association for
  promoting the self-dependence of the blind assists not only former
  pupils of the school but every blind man or woman willing and able to
  work.

  TABLE IV.--_The Blind, by Consanguinity of Parents, Degree of
  Blindness, and Blind Relatives of Other Classes._

    +---------------------+--------+----------+----------+---------+-------+
    |                     |        |          |          |No Blind |       |
    |                     |        |          |Collateral|Relatives|       |
    |   Consanguinity     |        |  Blind   |Relatives |or Rela- |  Not  |
    |    of Parents.      | Total. | Brothers,|  or De-  |tives by |Stated.|
    |                     |        |Sisters or|scendants |Marriage |       |
    |                     |        |Ancestors.|  alone,  |  alone, |       |
    |                     |        |          |  Blind.  |  Blind. |       |
    +---------------------+--------+----------+----------+---------+-------+
    |All Classes--        |        |          |          |         |       |
    |  The blind          | 64,763 |   8629   |   2338   | 46,759  | 7037  |
    |    Totally blind    | 35,645 |   4378   |   1215   | 25,349  | 3703  |
    |    Partially blind  | 29,118 |   4251   |   1123   | 20,410  | 3334  |
    +---------------------+--------+----------+----------+---------+-------+
    |Parents cousins--    |        |          |          |         |       |
    |  The blind          |  2,527 |    844   |    149   |  1,456  |   78  |
    |    Totally blind    |  1,291 |    435   |     78   |    739  |   39  |
    |    Partially blind  |  1,236 |    409   |     71   |    717  |   39  |
    +---------------------+--------+----------+----------+---------+-------+
    |Parents not cousins--|        |          |          |         |       |
    |  The blind          | 53,980 |   7395   |   2095   | 43,368  | 1122  |
    |    Totally blind    | 29,892 |   3720   |   1090   | 24,541  |  541  |
    |    Partially blind  | 24,088 |   3675   |   1005   | 18,827  |  581  |
    +---------------------+--------+----------+----------+---------+-------+
    |Consanguinity of par-|        |          |          |         |       |
    |  ents not stated--  |        |          |          |         |       |
    |  The blind          |  8,256 |    390   |     94   |  1,935  | 5837  |
    |    Totally blind    |  4,462 |    223   |     47   |  1,069  | 3123  |
    |    Partially blind  |  3,794 |    167   |     47   |    866  | 2714  |
    +---------------------+--------+----------+----------+---------+-------+


    Sweden.

  The number of blind persons in Sweden, according to the census of
  December 1880, was 3723, being at the rate of one blind person for
  every 1226 of the general population. At the beginning of the year
  1879, the instruction of the blind in Sweden was completely separated
  from that of the deaf and dumb, on the grounds that it hindered the
  intellectual development of the blind--a conclusion which experience
  shows to be tolerably correct. Since July 1888 the Royal Institution
  of the Blind has obtained a new building at Tomteboda, near Stockholm.


    Norway.

  The law of the 8th of July 1881, concerning the instruction of
  abnormal children, has imposed on the state the duty of establishing a
  sufficient number of schools for the blind in Norway as well as for
  the other abnormal children. All the blind of the country, from 9
  years of age until the age of 21, are compelled to be educated, with a
  maximum of 8 years of instruction for each pupil.


    Finland.

  The census of 1873 showed that in Finland there were 7959 blind in a
  total population of about 2,000,000 inhabitants, the proportion
  reaching the very high figure of one for every 251 of the total
  population. Nevertheless there were only 160 of school age. For these
  there are two institutions, one at Helsingfors where the instruction
  is given in the Swedish language, and where there are about 12 pupils,
  and another at Kuopio, where the instruction is given in the Finnish
  language, and where the pupils number about 30.


    Austria.

  According to information received from the I.R. Central Commission for
  Statistics, the number of blind in the provinces represented in the
  Austrian Reichsrath amounted to 15,582 in the year 1884. Of these,
  2345 were children up to 15 years of age, namely 433 below 5, 779 from
  5 to 10, and 1113 from 10 to 15 years. The total number of
  institutions for blind children in Austria amounts to 8. The blind
  children of school age who are not placed in special institutions are
  compulsorily taught in the public general free schools, as far as
  practicable. The number of blind in the whole dominion of the crown of
  St Stephen was 208,391.


    Italy.

  The number of blind persons in Italy was 21,718, according to the
  census of 1881, and those of school age were estimated to form 25% of
  the whole, or about 5429 in number. But no special cognizance of the
  blind is taken in the government census. There are 20 institutions,
  schools and workshops for the blind.


    Russia.

  Statistics with regard to the number and condition of the blind in the
  Russian empire are of a very limited character, and it is only of late
  years that any attempt has been made to draw up any accurate returns
  with regard to them. The total number of the blind throughout the
  empire is generally reckoned at from 160,000 to 200,000, thus making
  1600 to 2000 per million inhabitants. In Russia there are 21
  institutions for the support of the blind.


    Egypt

  "In Egypt the blind are very numerous in comparison with other
  countries, and although no exact statistics are at present obtainable
  on this point, it is computed that the proportion is at least one
  totally blind person to every 50 of the population. This is
  principally the result of acute ophthalmia occurring in infancy, and
  it is fostered by the superstitious observance which prevents the
  mothers from washing their children from the time of birth until they
  are two years old, at which late date only they are weaned. There is
  also a great deal of infection carelessly and ignorantly conveyed
  direct from eye to eye, by means of unwashed fingers, and this is
  accountable for the occurrence of much more eye-disease than any that
  may be caused by the proverbial flies. The only employment followed by
  the blind, both Mahommedan and Coptic (or native Christian), and that
  only to a limited extent, is recitation aloud--the former repeating
  portions of the Koran at funerals, and the latter chanting the
  church-ritual in their services; the blind girls and women are without
  occupation. Practically no education is given to the blind as a class,
  and anything which they learn has to be acquired orally by frequent
  repetition. The blind were not always so completely neglected, as the
  native ecclesiastical authorities (Wakf) gave an annual grant of £2000
  for the continued maintenance of a school for the blind and the deaf
  and dumb in Cairo, which taught about 80 day-pupils; the latter years
  of the school were passed under the ministry of education, and it was
  ultimately discontinued. Such a condition of affairs appealed to Dr
  T.R. Armitage, and explains his motive in trying to establish some
  proper means for affording the blind in Egypt the necessary scholastic
  instruction and other training. In Egypt, as in other countries, it is
  occasionally very difficult, and takes some time, to start any
  enterprise such as this on a satisfactory and practical footing, and
  it was left for Mrs T.R. Armitage to be the means of successfully
  carrying out her husband's wishes in this particular. In 1900 Mrs
  Armitage asked Dr Kenneth Scott to prepare a scheme for the education
  and welfare of the blind in Egypt, on lines suggested to her. This,
  through the British and Foreign Blind Association, was submitted to
  Queen Victoria, who graciously commanded it to be sent, through the
  foreign office, to the khedive, who in mark of approbation and
  encouragement generously gave a handsome donation towards its
  realization. The Institution for the Blind was established at Zeitoun,
  Cairo, early in the year 1901, through funds provided by Mrs T.R.
  Armitage. The object of the institution, which is wholly unsectarian
  in character, is to educate and train the blind mentally and
  physically and in industrial occupations, and at the same time to
  improve their moral standard, so that eventually they may become in
  great measure, or even completely, self-supporting." (Dr Kenneth
  Scott.)


    India.

  India has a large proportion of blind inhabitants, ranging from one in
  600 in some provinces, to one in 400 in others, with a total of more
  than half a million. Until recently, little had been done in the way
  of organized effort to educate them, though many of the missionaries
  had helped individual cases. At Amritsar a large and well-organized
  work for the blind has been carried on for many years. This school has
  now been moved to Rajpur, and helps 70 blind women and children. In
  1903 a government school and hospital were established at Bombay as a
  memorial to Queen Victoria. Reading, writing, arithmetic, tailoring,
  typewriting, carpentering, lathe-work and carpet-weaving are taught.
  There are small schools at Parantij, Calcutta, Palancottah, Calicut,
  Coorg, Chota-Nagpur, and at Moulmein in Burma. The memorial to Queen
  Victoria in Ceylon took the form of work for the blind. J. Knowles,
  with the help of L. Garthwaite of the Indian Civil Service, devised a
  scheme of oriental Braille, which has been adopted by the British and
  Foreign Bible Society for the production of the Scriptures in Eastern
  languages.


    China.

  Blindness is very prevalent in China, and to eye-diseases, neglect and
  dirt, must be added leprosy and smallpox as causes. Blind beggars may
  be seen on every highway, clamouring for alms. As in India their
  pitiful condition attracted the attention of the missionaries. W.H.
  Murray, a Scottish missionary in Peking, made a simple and ingenious
  adaptation of the Braille symbols to the complicated system of Chinese
  printing, in which over 4000 characters are required. It was necessary
  to represent at least 408 sounds, and each one was given a
  corresponding Braille number. When a pupil reads the number he knows
  instantly the sound for which it stands. A school for the blind was
  established at Peking, and the version of the Scriptures printed at
  Peking can be read in all the provinces where the Northern Mandarin
  dialect is spoken (see Miss Gordon Cumming, _The Inventor of the
  Numeral Type for China_). A Braille code has recently been arranged
  for Mandarin, based on a system of initials and finals, by Miss
  Garland of the China Inland Mission. At Foochow there is a large
  school for boys and girls in connexion with the Church Missionary
  Society. At Ningpo, Amoy, Canton and Fukien work for the blind is
  carried on by the missionaries.


    Japan.

  The blind in Japan have long been trained in massage, acupuncture and
  music, and until recently, with few exceptions, none but the blind
  engaged in these occupations. From three to five years are required to
  become proficient in massage, but a blind person is then able to
  support himself. In Yokohama, with a population of half a million,
  there are 1000 men and women engaged in massage, and all but about 100
  of these are blind. In 1878 a school for the blind and deaf-mutes was
  established in Kyoto, and soon after one in Tokyo. Japan has four
  schools for the blind, and seven combined schools for the blind and
  deaf-mutes.


    Palestine.

  As in other Eastern countries, blindness is very prevalent in
  Palestine. Ophthalmic hospitals and medical attendance are now
  available in the larger towns, and the missionary schools have done
  much to inculcate habits of cleanliness, therefore there is a slight
  decrease in the number of the blind. The home and school for blind
  girls in Jerusalem is the outcome of a day school opened in 1896 by an
  American missionary. There is also a small school at Urfa under the
  auspices of the American mission in that town.


EDUCATION

  Early training.

As more sensations are received through the eye than through any other
organ, the mind of a blind child is vacant, and the training should
begin early or the mind will degenerate. Indirectly the loss of sight
results in inaction. If no one encourages a blind child to move, he will
sit quietly in a corner, and when he leaves his seat will move timidly
about. This want of activity produces bad physical effects, and further
delays mental growth. The blind are often injured, some of them ruined
for life, through the ignorance and mistaken kindness of their friends
during early childhood. They should be taught to walk, to go up and down
stairs, to wash, dress and feed themselves.

They should be carefully taught correct postures and attitudes, and to
avoid making grimaces. They should be told the requirements of social
conventions which a seeing child learns through watching his elders.
They have no consciousness that their habits are disagreeable, and the
earlier unsightly mannerisms are corrected the better. It is a fallacy
to suppose that the other senses of the blind are naturally sharper than
those of the seeing. It is only when the senses of hearing and touch
have been cultivated that they partially replace sight, and such
cultivation can begin with very young children.

Blind children have a stronger claim upon the public for education than
other children, because they start at a disadvantage in life, they carry
a burden in their infirmity, they come mostly of poor parents, and
without special instruction and training they are almost certain to
become a public charge during life.

Public authorities should adopt the most efficient plan for preparing
blind children to become active, independent men and women, rather than
consider the cheapest and easiest method of educating them. We cannot
afford to give the blind an education that is not the best of its kind
in the trade or profession they will have to follow. There are many
seeing persons with little education who are useful citizens and
successful in various industries, but an uneducated blind person is
helpless, and must become dependent.

The surroundings of the blind do not favour the development of activity,
self-reliance and independence. Parents and friends find it easier to
attend to the wants and requirements of their blind children than to
teach them to be self-helpful in the common acts of everyday life. A
mistaken kindness leads the friends to guard every movement and prevent
physical exertion. As a rule, the vitality of the blind is much below
the average vitality of seeing persons, and any system of education
which does not recognize and overcome this defect will be a failure. It
is the lack of energy and determination, not the want of sight, that
causes so many failures among the blind.


  Physical training.

A practical system of education, which has for its object to make the
blind independent and self-sustaining, must be based upon a
comprehensive course of physical development. A blind man who has
received mechanical training, general education, or musical instruction,
without physical development, is like an engine provided with everything
necessary except motive power.

Schools for the blind should be provided with well-equipped gymnasia,
and the physical training should include various kinds of mass and
apparatus work. Large and suitable playgrounds are also essential.
Besides a free space where they can run and play, it should have a
supply of swings, tilts, jumping-boards, stilts, chars-à-bancs,
skittle-alleys, &c. Any game that allows of sides being taken adds
greatly to the enjoyment, and is a powerful incentive to play. The
pupils should be encouraged to enter into various competitions, as
walking, running, jumping, leap-frog, sack-racing, shot-pitching,
tug-of-war, &c. Cycling, rowing, swimming and roller-skating are not
only beneficial but most enjoyable.


  Mental training.

The subjects in the school curriculum should be varied according to the
age and capacity of the pupils, but those which cultivate the powers of
observation and the perceptive faculties should have a first place.
Object lessons or nature study should have a large share of attention.
Few people realize that a blind child knows nothing of the size, shape
and appearance of common objects that lie beyond the reach of his arm.
When he has once been shown how to learn their characteristics, he will
go on acquiring a knowledge of his surroundings unaided by a teacher.
Again, a careful drill in mental arithmetic, combining accuracy with
rapidity, is essential. A good command of English should be cultivated
by frequent exercises in composition, and by committing to memory
passages of standard prose and poetry. In his secondary course, the
choice of subjects must depend upon his future career. Above all,
stimulate a love of good reading.


  Early manual training.

From the earliest years manual dexterity should be cultivated by
kindergarten work, modelling, sewing, knitting and sloyd. Blind children
who have not had the advantage of this early handwork find much more
difficulty when they begin a regular course in technical training. Early
manual training cultivates the perceptive faculties, gives activity to
the body, and prepares the hands and finger for pianoforte-playing,
pianoforte-tuning and handicrafts.


  Choice of occupation

Besides a good general education, the blind must have careful and
detailed training in some handicraft, or thorough preparation for some
profession. The trades and professions open to them are few, and if they
fail in one of these they cannot turn quickly to some other line of work.
Those who have charge of their education should avail themselves of the
knowledge that has been gained in all countries, in order to decide
wisely in regard to the trade or occupation for which each pupil should
be prepared. It may be some kind of handicraft, pianoforte-tuning,
school-teaching, or the profession of music; the talent and ability of
each child should be carefully considered before finally deciding his
future occupation. The failure to give the blind a practical education
often means dependence through life.


  Pianoforte-tuning.

Pianoforte-tuning as an employment for the blind originated in Paris.
About 1830 Claud Montal and a blind fellow-pupil attempted to tune a
piano. The seeing tuner in charge of the school pianos complained to the
director, and they were forbidden to touch the works, but the two
friends procured an old piano and continued their efforts. Finally, the
director, convinced of their skill, gave them charge of all the school
pianos, and classes were soon started for the other pupils. When Montal
left the institution he encountered great prejudice, but his skill in
tuning became known to the professors of the Conservatoire, and his work
rapidly increased and success was assured. Montal afterwards established
a manufactory, and remained at its head for many years. Tuning is an
excellent employment for the blind, and one in which they have certain
advantages. The seeing who excel in the business go through a long
apprenticeship, and one must give the blind even more careful
preparation. They must work a number of hours daily, under suitable
tuition, for several years. After a careful examination by an expert
pianoforte-tuning authority, every duly qualified tuner should be
furnished with an official certificate of proficiency, and tuners who
cannot take the required examinations ought not to be allowed to impose
upon the public.


  Musical training.

Music in its various branches, when properly taught, is the best and
most lucrative employment for the blind. To become successful in the
profession, it is necessary for the blind to have opportunities of
instruction, practice, study, and hearing music equal to those afforded
the seeing, with whom they will have to compete in the open market. If
the blind musician is to rise above mediocrity, systematic musical
instruction in childhood is indispensable, and good instruction will
avail little unless the practice is under constant and judicious
supervision. The musical instruction, in its several branches of
harmony, pianoforte, organ and vocal culture, must be addressed to the
mind, not merely to the ear. This is the only possible method by which
musical training can be made of practical use to the blind. The blind
music teacher or organist must have a well-disciplined mind, capable of
analysing and dealing with music from an intellectual point of view. If
the mental faculties have not been developed and thoroughly disciplined,
the blind musician, however well he may play or sing, will be a failure
as a teacher. The musical instruction must be more thorough, more
analytical, more comprehensive, than corresponding instruction given to
seeing persons. In 1871 Dr Armitage published a book on the education
and employment of the blind, in which he stated that of the blind
musicians trained in the United Kingdom not more than one-half per cent
were able to support themselves, whereas of those trained in the Paris
school 30% supported themselves fully, and 30% partially, by the
profession of music.


  Royal Normal College.

To provide a better education and improve the musical training of the
blind, the Royal Normal College was established in 1872.[3] Its object
was to afford the young blind a thorough general and musical education,
to qualify them to earn a living by various intellectual pursuits,
especially as organists, pianists, teachers and pianoforte-tuners. From
the first, the founders of the college maintained that the blind could
only be made self-sustaining by increasing their intelligence, bodily
activity and dexterity, by inculcating business habits, by arousing
their self-respect, and by creating in their minds a belief in the
possibility of future self-maintenance. A kindergarten department was
opened in 1881. In July 1896 Queen's Scholarship examinations were held
at the Royal Normal College, for the first time, for blind students, and
the institution recognized by the Education Department as a training
college for blind school-teachers.


  Educational needs.

From the first day a pupil enters school until he finishes his course of
training, care must be taken to implant business habits. Blind children
are allowed to be idle and helpless at home; they do not learn to
appreciate the value of time, and in after years this is one of the most
difficult lessons to inculcate. Having drifted through childhood, they
are content to drift through life. The important habits of punctuality,
regularity and precision should be cultivated in all the arrangements
and requirements. A great effort should be made to lift the blind from
pauperism. As soon as pupils enter a school, all semblance of pauper
origin should be removed. They must be inspired with a desire for
independence and a belief in its possibility. In the public mind
blindness has been so long and closely associated with dependence and
pauperism that schools for the blind, even the most progressive, have
been regarded hitherto as asylums rather than educational
establishments. A sad mistake in the training of the blind is the lack
of an earnest effort to improve their social condition. The fact that
their education has been left to charity has helped to keep them in the
ranks of dependents.

The question of day-classes versus boarding-schools has been much
discussed. It is claimed by some that a blind child gains more
independence if kept at home and educated in a school with the seeing.
This theory is not verified by practical experience. At home its
blindness makes the child an exception, and often it takes little or no
part in the active duties of everyday life. Again, in a class of seeing
children the blind member is treated as an exception. The memory is
cultivated at the expense of the other faculties, and the facility with
which it recites in certain subjects causes it to make a false estimate
of its attainments. The fundamental principles in different branches are
imperfectly understood, from the failure to follow the illustrations of
the teacher. In the playgrounds, a few irrepressibles join in active
games, but most of the blind children prefer a quiet corner.

For the sake of economy, schools for deaf-mutes and the blind are
sometimes united. As the requirements of the two classes are entirely
separate and distinct, the union is undesirable, whether for general
education or industrial training. The plan was tried in America, but has
been given up in most of the states. To meet the difficulty of proper
classification with small numbers, blind boys and girls are taught in
the same classes. The acquaintances then made lead to intimacy in later
years and foster intermarriage among the blind. Intermarriage among the
blind is a calamity, both for them and for their children; some who
might have been successful business men are to-day begging in the
streets in consequence of intermarriage.

In every school or class there will be a certain number of young blind
children who, from neglect, want of food, or other causes, are feeble in
body and defective in intellect; such children are a great burden in any
class or school, and require special treatment and instruction.
Educational authorities should unite and have one or two schools in a
healthful locality for mentally defective blind children.

More and more, in educational work for the seeing, there is a tendency
to specialize, and thus enable each student to have the best possible
instruction in the subjects that bear most directly on his future
calling. To prepare the blind for self-maintenance, there should be an
equally careful study of the ability of each child.

A scheme of education which has for its object to make the blind a
self-sustaining class should include: kindergarten schools for children
from 5 to 8 years of age; preparatory schools from 8 to 11; intermediate
schools from 11 to 14. At 14 an intelligent opinion can be formed in
regard to the future career of the pupils. They will fall naturally into
the following categories:--(a) A certain number will succeed better in
handicraft than in any other calling, and should be drafted into a
suitable mechanical school. (b) A few will have special gifts for
general business, and should be educated accordingly. (c) A few will
have the ability and ambition to prepare for the university, and the
special college should afford them the most thorough preparation for the
university examinations. (d) Some will have the necessary talent,
combined with the requisite character and industry, to succeed in the
musical profession; in addition to a liberal education, these should
have musical instruction, equal to that given to the seeing, in the best
schools of music. (e) Some may achieve excellent success as
pianoforte-tuners, and in a pianoforte-tuning school strict business
habits should be cultivated, and the same attention to work required as
is demanded of seeing workmen in well-regulated pianoforte factories.

The United Kingdom stands almost alone in allowing the education of the
blind to depend upon charity. In the United States, each state
government not only makes liberal provision for the education and
training of the blind, but most of them provide grounds, buildings and a
complete equipment in all departments. Although it costs much more _per
capita_, from £40 to £60 per annum, the blind are as amply provided with
the means of education as the seeing. The government of the United
States appropriates $10,000 per annum for printing embossed books for
the blind. Most of the European countries and the English colonies
provide by taxation for the education of the blind.


TYPES

The earliest authentic records of tangible letters for the blind
describe a plan of engraving the letters upon blocks of wood, the
invention of Francesco Lucas, a Spaniard, who dedicated it to Philip II.
of Spain in the 16th century. In 1640 Pierre Moreau, a writing-master in
Paris, cast a movable leaden type for the use of the blind, but being
without means to carry out his plan, abandoned it. Pins inserted in
cushions were next tried, and large wooden letters. After these came a
contrivance of Du Puiseaux, a blind man, who had metal letters cast and
set them in a small frame with a handle. Whilst these experiments were
going on in France, attempts had also been made in Germany. R.
Weissembourg (a resident of Mannheim), who lost his sight when about
seven years of age, made use of letters cut in cardboard, and afterwards
pricked maps in the same material. By this method he taught Mlle
Paradis, the talented blind musician and the friend of Valentin Haüy.

To Haüy belongs the honour of being the first to emboss paper as a means
of reading for the blind; his books were embossed in large and small
italics, from movable type set by his pupils. The following is an
account of the origin of his discovery. Haüy's first pupil was François
Lesueur, a blind boy whom he found begging at the porch door of St
Germain des Prés. While Lesueur was sorting the papers on his teacher's
desk, he came across a card strongly indented by the types in the press.
The blind lad showed his master he could decipher several letters on the
card. Immediately Haüy traced with the handle of his pen some signs on
paper. The boy read them, and the result was printing in relief, the
greatest of Haüy's discoveries. In 1821 Lady Elizabeth Lowther brought
embossed books and types from Paris, and with the types her son, Sir
Charles Lowther, Bart., printed for his own use the Gospel of St
Matthew. The work of Haüy was taken up by Mr Gall of Edinburgh, Mr
Alston of Glasgow, Dr Howe of Boston, Mr Friedlander of Philadelphia,
and others. In 1827 James Gall of Edinburgh embossed some elementary
works, and published the Gospel of St John in 1834. His plan was to use
the common English letter and replace curves by angles.

In 1832 the Edinburgh Society of Arts offered a gold medal for the best
method of printing for the blind, and it was awarded to Dr Edmond Fry of
London, whose alphabet consisted of ordinary capital letters without
their small strokes. In 1836 the Rev. W. Taylor of York and John Alston
in Glasgow began to print with Fry's type. Mr Alston's appeal for a
printing fund met with a hearty response, and a grant of £400 was made
by the treasury; in 1838 he completed the New Testament, and at the end
of 1840 the whole Bible was published in embossed print. In 1833
printing for the blind was commenced in the United States at Boston and
Philadelphia. Dr S.G. Howe in Boston used small English letters without
capitals, angles being employed instead of curves, while J.R.
Friedlander in Philadelphia used only Roman capitals. About 1838 T.M.
Lucas of Bristol, a shorthand writer, and J.H. Frere of Blackheath, each
introduced an alphabet of simpler forms, and based their systems on
stenography. In 1847 Dr Moon of Brighton brought out a system which
partially retains the outline of the Roman letters. This type is easily
read by the adult blind, and is still much used by the home teaching
societies. The preceding methods are all known as line types, but the
one which is now in general use is a point type.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Moon Alphabet.]

In the early part of the 19th century Captain Charles Barbier, a French
officer, substituted embossed dots for embossed lines. The slate for
writing was also invented by him.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.

Apparatus for writing Braille.

Braille Alphabet. The black dots represent the raised points of the sign
in their position in relation to the group of six.]

Barbier arranged a table of speech sounds, consisting of six lines with
six sounds in each line. His rectangular cell contained two vertical
rows of six points each. The number of points in the left-hand row
indicates in which horizontal line, and that in the right-hand row in
which vertical line, of the printed table the speech sound is to be
found.

Louis Braille, a pupil and afterwards a professor of the Institution
Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles, Paris, studied all the various methods in
which arbitrary characters were used. Barbier's letter, although it gave
a large number of combinations, was too long to be covered by the finger
in reading, and Louis Braille reduced the number of dots. In 1834
Braille perfected his system. Dr Armitage considered it was the greatest
advance that had ever been made in the education of the blind.

The Braille alphabet consists of varying combinations of six dots in an
oblong, of which the vertical side contains three, and the horizontal
two dots.

  · ·
  · ·
  · ·

There are 63 possible combinations of these six dots, and after the
letters of the alphabet have been supplied, the remaining signs are used
for punctuation, contractions, &c.

  "For writing, a ruler is used, consisting of a metal bed either
  grooved or marked by groups of little pits, each group consisting of
  six; over this bed is fitted a brass guide, punched with oblong holes
  whose vertical diameter is three-tenths of an inch, while the
  horizontal diameter is two-tenths. The pits are arranged in two
  parallel lines, and the guide is hinged on the bed in such a way that
  when the two are locked together the openings in the guide correspond
  exactly to the pits in the bed. The brass guide has a double row of
  openings, which enables the writer to write two lines; when these are
  written, he shifts his guide downwards until two little pins, which
  project from the under surface at its ends, drop into corresponding
  holes of a wooden board; then two more lines are written, and this
  operation is repeated until the bottom of the page is reached. The
  paper is introduced between the frame and the metal bed. The
  instrument for writing is a blunt awl, which carries a little cap of
  paper before it into the grooves or pits of the bed, thereby producing
  a series of little pits in the paper on the side next the writer. When
  taken out and turned over, little prominences are felt, corresponding
  to the pits on the other side. The reading is performed from left to
  right, consequently the writing is from right to left; but this
  reversal presents no practical difficulty as soon as the pupil had
  caught the idea that in reading and writing alike he has to go
  _forwards_.

  "The first ten letters, from 'a' to 'j,' are formed in the upper and
  middle grooves; the next ten, from 'k' to 't,' are formed by adding
  one lower back dot to each letter of the first series; the third row
  is formed from the first by adding two lower dots to each letter; the
  fourth row, similarly, by adding one lower front dot.

  "The first ten letters, when preceded by the prefix for numbers, stand
  for the nine numbers and the cipher. The same signs, written in the
  lower and middle grooves, instead of the upper and middle, serve for
  punctuation. The seven last letters of each series stand for the seven
  musical notes--the first series representing quavers, the second
  minims, the third semibreves, the fourth crotchets. Rests,
  accidentals, and every other sign used in music can be readily and
  clearly expressed without having recourse to the staff of five lines
  which forms the basis of ordinary musical notation, and which, though
  it has been reproduced tor the blind, can only be considered as
  serving to give them an idea of the method employed by the seeing, and
  cannot, of course, be written. By means of this dotted system, a blind
  man is able to keep memoranda or accounts, write his own music, emboss
  his own books from dictation, and carry on correspondence."

The Braille system for literature and music was brought into general use
in England by Dr T.R. Armitage. Through his wise, untiring zeal and
noble generosity, every blind man, woman and child throughout the
English-speaking world can now obtain not only the best literature, but
the best music.

In America there are two modifications of the point type, known as New
York point and American braille. In each of these the most frequently
recurring letters are represented by the least number of dots.

The original Braille is used by the institutions for the blind in the
British empire, European countries, Mexico, Brazil and Egypt.


APPLIANCES FOR EDUCATIONAL WORK

The apparatus for writing point alphabets has already been described.
Frank H. Hall, former superintendent of the School for the Blind,
Jacksonville, Ill., U.S.A., has invented a Braille typewriter and
stereotype maker; the latter embosses metal plates from which any number
of copies can be printed. An automatic Braille-writer has been brought
out in Germany, and William B. Wait (principal of the Institution for
the Blind in New York City) has invented a machine for writing New York
point. These machines are expensive, but A. Wayne of Birmingham has
brought out a cheap and effective Braille-writer. H. Stainsby, secretary
of the Birmingham institution, and Wayne have invented a machine for
writing Braille shorthand.

[Illustration: Fig. 3.--Arithmetic Board, Pin and Characters. A, Shape
of opening in the board for pin; B and C, pin.]

Many boards have been constructed to enable the blind to work
arithmetical problems. The one which is most used was invented by the
Rev. W. Taylor. The board has star-shaped openings in which a square pin
fits in eight different positions. The pin has on one end a plain ridge
and on the other a notched ridge; sixteen characters can be formed with
the two ends. The board is also used for algebra, another set of type
furnishing the algebraic symbols.

Books are prepared with raised geometrical diagrams; figures can be
formed with bent wires on cushions, or on paper with a toothed wheel
attached to one end of a pair of compasses.

Geography is studied by means of relief maps, manufactured in wood or
paper. The physical maps and globes prepared for seeing children are
used also for the blind.

Chiefly owing to the unremitting energy and liberality of Dr T.R.
Armitage, in connexion with the British and Foreign Blind Association,
all school appliances for the blind have been greatly improved and
cheapened.


EMPLOYMENT

Reference has been made to the fact that music in its various branches
furnishes the best and most lucrative employment for the blind. But
those who have not the ability, or are too old to be trained for music
or some other profession, must depend upon handicrafts for their
support. The principal ones taught in the various institutions are the
making of baskets, brushes, mats, sacks, ships' fenders, brooms and
mattresses, upholstery, wire-work, chair-caning, wood-chopping, &c.
Females are taught to make fancy baskets and brushes, chair-caning,
knitting, netting, weaving, sewing--hand and machine--crocheting, &c. It
is difficult to find employment for blind girls. It is hoped that
typewriting and massage will prove remunerative.

The blind, whether educated for the church, trained as teachers,
musicians, pianoforte-tuners, or for any other trade or occupation,
generally require assistance at the outset. They need help in finding
suitable employment, recommendations for establishing a connexion,
pecuniary assistance in providing outfits of books, tools, instruments,
&c., help in the selection and purchase of the best materials at the
lowest wholesale rates, in the sale of their manufactured goods in the
best markets, and if overtaken by reverses, judicious and timely help
towards a fresh start. Every institution should keep in touch with its
old pupils. The superintendent who carefully studies the successes and
failures of his pupils when they go into the world, will more wisely
direct the work and energies of his present and future students.

Within recent years great improvements have been made in some of the
progressive workshops for the blind. At the conference in London in 1902
Mr T. Stoddart gave the following information in regard to the work in
Glasgow:--"We are building very extensive additions to our workshops,
which will enable us to accommodate 600 blind people. We mean to employ
the most up-to-date methods, and are introducing electric power to drive
the machinery and light the workshops. We have to do with the average
blind adult recently deprived of sight after he has attained an age of
from 25 to 40 or even 50 years. In Glasgow we have developed an industry
eminently suitable for the employment of the blind, namely, the
manufacture of new and the remaking of old bedding. There are industries
which are purely local, where certain articles of manufacture largely
used in one district are useless, or nearly so, in another; but the
field in which this industry may be promoted is practically without
limit. It is perhaps the employment _par excellence_ for the blind, and
among other advantages it has the following to recommend it: employment
is provided for the blind of both sexes and of all ages; there is no
accumulation nor deterioration of stock; it yields an excellent profit,
and its use is universal. We have been pushing this industry for years,
our annual turnover in this particular department having exceeded £7000,
and as we find it so suited to the capabilities of all grades of blind
people, it is our intention to provide facilities for doing a turnover
of three times that amount. Instead of the thirty sewing-machines which
we have at present running by power, we hope to employ 100 blind women.
At cork-fender-making, also an industry of the most suitable kind, we
are at present employing about thirty workers. It is also our intention
to greatly develop and extend our mat-making department."

In the United States many blind persons are engaged in agricultural
pursuits, and some are very successful in commercial pursuits. When a
man loses his sight in adult life, if he can possibly follow the
business in which he has previously been engaged, it is the best course
for him. In the present day, work in manufactories is subdivided to such
an extent that often some one portion can be done by a blind person; but
it needs the interest of some enthusiastic believer in the capabilities
of the blind to persuade the seeing manager that blind people can be
safely employed in factories.

In England, at the time of the royal commission of 1889, upwards of 8000
blind persons, above the age of 21, were in receipt of relief from the
guardians, of whom no less than 3278 were resident in workhouses or
workhouse infirmaries. The census returns for 1901 indicate that the
number at that time was equally large. It would certainly be more
economical to establish workshops where the able-bodied adult blind can
be trained in some handicraft and employed.

The papers read at the various conferences show that, even under the
most favourable circumstances, some are not able to earn enough for
their support; nevertheless, employment improves their condition; there
is no greater calamity than to live a life of compulsory idleness in
total darkness. The cry of the blind is not alms but work. One of the
workshops in western America has adopted the motto, "Independence
through Industry," and it should be the aim of every civilized country
to hasten the time when blindness and pauperism shall no longer be
synonymous terms.


BIOGRAPHY

It may be interesting, in conclusion, to mention some of the names of
prominent blind people in history:--

  Timoleon (c. 410-336 B.C.), a Greek general.

  Aufidius, a Roman senator.

  Bela II. (d. 1141), king of Hungary.

  John, king of Bohemia (1296-1346), killed in the battle of Crécy.

  John Zizca (c. 1376-1424), Bohemian general.

  Basil III. (d. 1462), prince of Moscow.

  Shah Alam (d. 1806), the last of the Great Moguls.

  Diodorus, the instructor of Cicero.

  Didymus of Alexandria (c. 308-395), mathematician, theologian and
  linguist.

  Nicase of Malines (d. 1492), professor of law in the university of
  Cologne. The degree of doctor of divinity was conferred on him by the
  university of Louvain, and the pope granted a dispensation suspending
  the law of the Church, that he might be ordained as a priest.

  Ludovico Scapinelli (b. 1585), professor at the universities of
  Bologna, Modena and Pisa.

  James Schegkius (d. 1587), professor of philosophy and medicine at
  Tübingen.

  Franciscus Salinas, professor of music at the university of Salamanca,
  in the 16th century.

  Nicholas Bacon (16th century), doctor of laws in the university of
  Brussels.

  Count de Pagan of Avignon (b. 1604), mathematician of note.

  John Milton (1608-1674), the poet.

  Rev. Richard Lucas (1648-1715), prebendary of Westminster.

  Nicholas Saunderson (q.v.; 1682-1739).

  John Stanley (1713-1786), Mus. Bac. Oxon., was born in London in 1713.
  At seven he began to study music, and made such rapid progress that he
  was appointed organist of All-Hallows, Bread Street, at the age of
  eleven. He graduated as Mus. Bac. at Oxford when sixteen, and was
  organist of the Temple church at the age of twenty-one. He composed a
  number of cantatas, and after the death of Handel he superintended the
  performance of Handel's oratorios at Covent Garden. He received the
  degree of doctor of music, and was master of the king's band.

  Leonard Euler (1707-1783), the celebrated mathematician and
  astronomer.

  John Metcalf (b. 1717), road-builder and contractor.

  Sir John Fielding (d. 1780), eminent lawyer and magistrate.

  Thomas Blacklock (q.v.; 1721-1791), Scottish scholar and poet.

  François Huber (1750-1831), Swiss naturalist, noted for his
  observations on bees.

  Edward Rushton (b. 1756). At six years of age he entered the Liverpool
  free grammar school, and at eleven shipped for his first voyage in a
  West India merchantman. On a later voyage he was shipwrecked, and owed
  his life to the self-sacrifice of a negro. Rushton and the black man
  swam for their lives to a floating cask; the negro reached it first,
  saw Rushton about to sink, pushed the cask to the failing lad, and
  struck out for the shore, but never reached it. This incident made
  Rushton an enthusiastic champion through life of the cause of the
  negro. During a voyage to Dominica malignant ophthalmia broke out
  among the slave cargo, and Rushton caught the disease by attending
  them in the hold when all others refused help. This attack deprived
  him of sight, and cut short a promising nautical career at the age of
  nineteen. He struggled bravely against difficulties, and besides
  entering successfully into various literary engagements, maintained
  himself and family as a bookseller. A volume of his poems containing a
  memoir was published in 1824.

  Marie Thérèse von Paradis (b. 1759), the daughter of an imperial
  councillor in Vienna. She was a godchild of the empress Marie Thérèse,
  and as her parents possessed rank and wealth, no expense was spared in
  her education. Weissembourg,  a blind man, was her tutor, and she
  learned to spell with letters cut out of pasteboard, and read words
  pricked upon cards with pins. She studied the piano with Richter (of
  Holland) and Kozeluch. She was a highly esteemed pianist, and Mozart
  wrote a concerto for her; she also attained considerable skill on the
  organ, in singing and in composition. She made a concert tour of
  Europe, visiting the principal courts and everywhere achieving great
  success. She remained four months in England, under the patronage of
  the queen. On her return to Vienna, through Paris, she met Valentin
  Haüy. Towards the close of her life she devoted herself to teaching
  singing and the pianoforte with great success.

  James Holman (q.v.; 1786-1857), traveller.

  William H. Prescott (q.v.; 1796-1859), the American historian.

  Several early 19th-century musicians held situations as organists in
  London; among them Grenville, Scott, Lockhart, Mather, Stiles and
  Warne.

  Louis Braille (1809-1852). In 1819 he went to the school for the blind
  in Paris. He became proficient on the organ, and held a post in one of
  the Paris churches. While a professor at the Institution Nationale des
  Jeunes Aveugles, he perfected his system of point writing.

  Alexander Rodenbach, Belgian statesman. When a member of the chamber
  of deputies, in 1836, he introduced and succeeded in establishing by
  law the right of blind and deaf-mute children to an education.

  Dr William Moon (1818-1894), the inventor of the type for the blind
  which bears his name.

  Rev. W.H. Milburn, D.D. (1823-1903), the American chaplain, known in
  the United States as "The Blind Man Eloquent." He often travelled from
  thirty to fifty thousand miles a year, speaking and preaching every
  day. He was three times chaplain of the House of Representatives, and
  in 1893 was chosen to the chaplaincy of the senate.

  Dr T.R. Armitage (b. 1824). After spending his youth on the continent,
  he became a medical student, first at King's College, and afterwards
  at Paris and Vienna. His career promised to be a brilliant one, but at
  the age of thirty-six failing sight caused him to abandon his
  profession. For the rest of his life he devoted his time and fortune
  to the interests of the blind. He reorganized the Indigent Blind
  Visiting Society, endowed its Samaritan fund, founded the British and
  Foreign Blind Association, and, in conjunction with the late duke of
  Westminster and others, founded the Royal Normal College.

  Elizabeth Gilbert (b. 1826), daughter of the bishop of Chichester. She
  lost her sight at the age of three. She was educated at home, and took
  her full share of household duties and cares and pleasures. When she
  was twenty-seven, she began to consider the condition of the poor
  blind of London. She saw some one must befriend those who had been
  taught trades, some one who could supply material, give employment or
  dispose of the articles manufactured. In 1854 her scheme was started,
  and work was given to six men in their own homes, but the number soon
  increased. In 1856 a committee was formed, a house converted into a
  factory, and the Association for Promoting the General Welfare of the
  Blind was founded.

  Rev. George Matheson, D.D. (b. 1842), preacher and writer of the
  Church of Scotland. The degree of D.D. was conferred on him by the
  university of Edinburgh in 1879, and he was appointed Baird Lecturer
  in 1881, and St Giles' Lecturer in 1882.

  Henry Fawcett (1833-1884), professor of political economy at
  Cambridge, and postmaster-general.

  W.H. Churchman of Pennsylvania, who was instrumental in establishing
  the schools for the blind in Tennessee, Indiana and Wisconsin.

  H.L. Hall, founder of the workshops and home for the blind in
  Philadelphia; by his energetic management he raised the standard of
  work for the adult blind throughout America.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY.--See also W.H. Levy, _Blindness and the Blind_ (1872);
  J. Wilson, _Biography of the Blind_ (1838); Dr T.R. Armitage,
  Education and Employment of the Blind (2nd ed., 1882); R.H. Blair,
  _Education of the Blind_ (1868); M. Anagnos, _Education of the Blind_
  (1882); H.J. Wilson, _Institutions, Societies and Classes for the
  Blind in England and Wales_ (1907); Guillié, _Instruction and
  Amusements of the Blind_ (1819); Dr W. Moon, _Light for the Blind_
  (1875); R. Meldrum, _Light on Dark Paths_ (2nd ed., 1891); Dr H. Roth,
  _Prevention of Blindness_ (1885), and his _Physical Education of the
  Blind_ (1885); _Report of Royal Commission_ (1889); Gavin Douglas,
  _Remarkable Blind Persons_ (1829); John Bird, _Social Pathology_
  (1862); M. de la Sizeranne, _The Blind in Useful Avocations_ (Paris,
  1881), _True Mission of Smaller Schools_ (Paris, 1884), _The Blind in
  France_ (Paris, 1885), _Two Years' Study and Work for the Blind_
  (Paris, 1890), and _The Blind as seen by a Blind Man_ [translated by
  Dr Park Lewis] (Paris, 1893); Dr Émile Javal, _The Blind Man's World_
  [translated by Ernest Thomson] (Paris, 1904); Prof. A. Mell,
  _Encyklopadisches Handbuch des Blindenwesens_ (Vienna, 1899).
       (F. J. C.)


FOOTNOTES:

  [1] There are no late returns for Iceland, but the last available
    statistics gave 3400 per million. A paper written in 1903 on
    blindness in Egypt stated that 1 in every 50 of the population was
    blind.

  [2] Previous returns from Finland have shown a much larger number of
    blind persons, but these statistics were supplied by the British
    consul in St Petersburg from the last census.

  [3] Its principal (responsible, with Dr Armitage, the duke of
    Westminster and others, for its foundation) was Sir F.J. Campbell,
    LL.D., F.R.G.S., F.S.A., himself a blind man, who, born in Tennessee,
    U.S.A., in 1832, and educated at the Nashville school, and afterwards
    in music at Leipzig and Berlin, had from 1858 to 1869 been associated
    with Dr Howe at the Perkins Institution, Boston. He was knighted in
    1909.




BLISS, CORNELIUS NEWTON (1833-   ), American merchant and politician,
was born at Fall River, Massachusetts, on the 26th of January 1833. He
was educated in his native city and in New Orleans, where he early
entered his step-father's counting-house. Returning to Massachusetts in
1849, he became a clerk and subsequently a junior partner in a prominent
Boston commercial house. Later he removed to New York City to establish
a branch of the firm. In 1881 he organized and became president of
Bliss, Fabyan & Company, one of the largest wholesale dry-goods houses
in the country. A consistent advocate of the protective tariff, he was
one of the organizers, and for many years president, of the American
Protective Tariff League. In politics an active Republican, he was
chairman of the Republican state committee in 1887 and 1888, and
contributed much to the success of the Harrison ticket in New York in
the latter year. He was treasurer of the Republican national committee
from 1892 to 1904, and was secretary of the interior in President
McKinley's cabinet from 1897 to 1899.




BLISTER (a word found in many forms in Teutonic languages, cf. Ger.
_Blase_; it is ultimately connected with the same root as in "blow," cf.
"bladder"), a small vesicle filled with serous fluid raised on the skin
by a burn, by rubbing on a hard surface, as on the hand in rowing, or by
other injury; the term is also used of a similar condition of the skin
caused artificially, as a counter-irritant in cases of inflammation, by
the application of mustard, of various kinds of fly (see CANTHARIDES)
and of other vesicatories. Similar small swellings, filled with fluid or
air, on plants and on the surface of steel or paint, &c., are also
called "blisters."




BLIZZARD (origin probably onomatopoeic, cf. "blast," "bluster"), a
furious wind driving fine particles of choking, blinding snow whirling
in icy clouds. The conditions to which the name was originally given
occur with the northerly winds in rear of the cyclones crossing the
eastern states of America during winter.




BLOCK, MARK ELIEZER (c. 1723-1799), German naturalist, was born at
Ansbach, of poor Jewish parents, about 1723. After taking his degree as
doctor at Frankfort-on-Oder he established himself as a physician at
Berlin. His first scientific work of importance was an essay on
intestinal worms, which gained a prize from the Academy of Copenhagen,
but he is best known by his important work on fishes (see ICHTHYOLOGY).
Bloch was fifty-six when he began to write on ichthyological subjects.
To begin at his time of life a work in which he intended not only to
give full descriptions of the species known to him from specimens or
drawings, but also to illustrate each species in a style truly
magnificent for his time, was an undertaking the execution of which most
men would have despaired of. Yet he accomplished not only this task, but
even more than he at first contemplated. He died at Carlsbad on the 6th
of August 1799.




BLOCK, MAURICE (1816-1901), French statistician, was born in Berlin of
Jewish parents on the 18th of February 1816. He studied at Bonn and
Giessen, but settled in Paris, becoming naturalized there. In 1844 he
entered the French ministry of agriculture, becoming in 1852 one of the
heads of the statistical department. He retired in 1862, and thenceforth
devoted himself entirely to statistical studies, which have gained for
him a wide reputation. He was elected a member of the Académie des
Sciences Morales et Politiques in 1880. He died in Paris on the 9th of
January 1901. His principal works are: _Dictionnaire de l'administration
française_ (1856); _Statistique de la France_ (1860); _Dictionnaire
général de la politique_ (1862); _L'Europe polilique et sociale_ (1869);
_Traité théorique et pratique de statistique_ (1878); Les Progrés de
l'économie politique depuis Adam Smith_ (1890); he also edited from 1856
_L'Annuaire de l'économie politique et de la statistique_, and wrote in
German _Die Bevolkerung des französischen Kaiserreichs_ (1861); Die
Bevolkerung Spaniens und Portugals_ (1861); and _Die Machtstellung der
europäischen Staaten_ (1862).




BLOCK (from the Fr. _bloc_, and possibly connected with an Old Ger.
_Block_, obstruction, cf. "baulk"), a piece of wood. The word is used in
various senses, e.g. the block upon which people were beheaded, the
block or mould upon which a hat is shaped, a pulley-block, a
printing-block, &c. From the sense of a solid mass comes the expression,
a "block" of houses, i.e. a rectangular space covered with houses and
bounded by four streets. From the sense of "obstruction" comes a "block"
in traffic, a block in any proceedings, and the block system of
signalling on railways.




BLOCKADE (Fr. _blocus_, Ger. _Blokade_), a term used in maritime
warfare. Originally a blockade by sea was probably nothing more than the
equivalent in maritime warfare of a blockade or siege on land in which
the army investing the blockaded or besieged place is in actual physical
possession of a zone through which it can prevent and forbid ingress and
egress. An attempt to cross such a zone without the consent of the
investing army would be an act of hostility against the besiegers. A
maritime blockade, when it formed part of a siege, would obviously also
be a close blockade, being part of the military cordon drawn round the
besieged place. Even from the first, however, differences would begin to
grow up in the conditions arising out of the operations on land and on
sea. Thus whereas conveying merchandise across military lines would be a
deliberate act of hostility against the investing force, a neutral ship
which had sailed in ignorance of the blockade for the blockaded place
might in good faith cross the blockade line without committing a hostile
act against the investing force. With the development of recognition of
neutral rights the involuntary character of the breach would be taken
into account, and notice to neutral states and to approaching vessels
would come into use. With the employment in warfare of larger vessels in
the place of the more numerous small ones of an earlier age, notice,
moreover, would tend to take the place of _de facto_ investment, and at
a time when communication between governments was still slow and
precarious, such notice would sometimes be given as a possible measure
of belligerent tactics before the blockade could be actually carried
out. Out of these circumstances grew up the abuse of "paper blockades."

The climax was reached in the "Continental Blockade" decreed by Napoleon
in 1806, which continued till it was abolished by international
agreement in 1812. This blockade forbade all countries under French
dominion or allied with France to have any communication with Great
Britain. Great Britain replied in 1807 by a similar measure. The first
nation to protest against these fictitious blockades was the United
States. Already in 1800 John Marshall, secretary of state, wrote to the
American minister in Great Britain pointing out objections which have
since been universally admitted. In the following interesting passage he
said:--

  "Ports not effectually blockaded by a force capable of completely
  investing them have yet been declared in a state of blockade.... If
  the effectiveness of the blockade be dispensed with, then every port
  of the belligerent powers may at all times be declared in that state,
  and the commerce of neutrals be thereby subjected to universal
  capture. But if this principle be strictly adhered to, the capacity to
  blockade will be limited by the naval force of the belligerent and, in
  consequence, the mischief to neutral commerce cannot be very
  extensive. It is, therefore, of the last importance to neutrals that
  this principle be maintained unimpaired. I observe that you have
  pressed this reasoning on the British minister, who replies that an
  occasional absence of a fleet from a blockaded port ought not to
  change the state of the place. Whatever force this observation may be
  entitled to, where that occasional absence has been produced by an
  accident, as a storm, which for a moment blows off a fleet and forces
  it from its station, which station it immediately resumes, I am
  persuaded that where a part of the fleet is applied, though only for a
  time, to other objects or comes into port, the very principle
  requiring an effective blockade, which is that the mischief can only
  be coextensive with the naval force of the belligerent, requires that
  during such temporary absence the commerce to the neutrals to the
  place should be free."[1]

  Again in 1803 James Madison wrote to the then American minister in
  London:--

  "The law of nations requires to constitute a blockade that there
  should be the presence and position of a force rendering access to the
  prohibited place manifestly difficult and dangerous."[2]

In 1826 and 1827 Great Britain as well as the United States asserted
that blockades in order to be binding must be effective. This became
gradually the recognized view, and when in 1856 the powers represented
at the congress of Paris inserted in the declaration there adopted that
"blockades in order to be binding must be effective, that is to say,
maintained by a force sufficient really to prevent access to the coast
of an enemy," they were merely enunciating a rule which neutral states
had already become too powerful to allow belligerents to disregard.

Blockade is universally admitted to be a belligerent right to which
under international law neutrals are obliged to submit. It is now also
universally admitted that the above-quoted rule of the Declaration of
Paris forms part of international law, independently of the declaration.
Being, however, exclusively a belligerent right, it cannot be exercised
except by a belligerent force. Even a _de facto_ belligerent has the
right to institute a blockade binding on neutrals if it has the means of
making it effective, though the force opposed to it may treat the _de
facto_ belligerent as rebels.

It is also admitted that, being exclusively a belligerent right, it
cannot be exercised in time of peace, but there has been some
inconsistency in practice (see PACIFIC BLOCKADE) which will probably
lead governments, in order to avoid protests of neutral powers against
belligerent rights being exercised in mere coercive proceedings, to
exercise all the rights of belligerents and carry on _de facto_ war to
entitle them to use violence against neutral infringers. This was done
in the case of the blockade of Venezuela by Great Britain, Germany and
Italy in 1902-1903.

The points upon which controversy still arises are as to what
constitutes an "effective" blockade and what a sufficient notice of
blockade to warrant the penalties of violation, viz. confiscation of the
ship and of the cargo unless the evidence demonstrates the innocence of
the cargo owners. A blockade to be effective must be maintained by a
sufficient force to prevent the entrance of neutral vessels into the
blockaded port or ports, and it must be duly proclaimed. Subject to
these principles being complied with, "the question of the legitimacy
and effectiveness of a blockade is one of fact to be determined in each
case upon the evidence presented" (Thomas F. Bayard, American secretary
of state, to Messrs Kamer & Co., 19th of February 1889). The British
manual of naval prize law sums up the cases in which a blockade, validly
instituted, ceases to be effectively maintained, as follows:--(1) If the
blockading force abandons its position, unless the abandonment be merely
temporary or caused by stress of weather, or (2) if it be driven away by
the enemy, or (3) if it be negligent in its duties, or (4) if it be
partial in the execution of its duties towards one ship rather than
another, or towards the ships of one nation rather than those of
another. These cases, however, are based on decisions of the British
admiralty court and cannot be relied on absolutely as a statement of
international law.

As regards notice the following American instructions vere given to
blockading officers in June 1898:--

  "Neutral vessels are entitled to notification of a blockade before
  they can be made prize for its attempted violation. The character of
  this notification is not material. It may be actual, as by a vessel of
  the blockading force, or _constructive, as by a proclamation of the
  government maintaining the blockade, or by common notoriety_. If a
  neutral vessel can be shown to have had notice of the blockade in any
  way, she is good prize, and should be sent in for adjudication; but
  should formal notice not have been given, _the rule of constructive
  knowledge arising from notoriety_ should be construed in a manner
  liberal to the neutral.

  "Vessels appearing before a blockaded port, having sailed without
  notification, are entitled to actual notice by a blockading vessel.
  They should be boarded by an officer, who should enter in the ship's
  log the fact of such notice, such entry to include the name of the
  blockading vessel giving notice, the extent of the blockade, the date
  and place, verified by his official signature. The vessel is then to
  be set free; and should she again attempt to enter the same or any
  other blockaded port as to which she has had notice, she is good
  prize. Should it appear from a vessel's clearance that she sailed
  after notice of blockade had been communicated to the country of her
  port of departure, or _after the fact of blockade had, by a fair
  presumption, become commonly known_ at that port, she should be sent
  in as a prize."

The passages in italics are not in accordance with the views held by
other states, which do not recognize the binding character of a
diplomatic notification or of constructive notice from notoriety.

The subject was brought up at the second Hague Conference (1907). The
Italian and Mexican delegations submitted projects, but after a
declaration by the British delegate in charge of the subject (Sir E.
Satow) that blockade not having been included in the Russian programme,
his government had given him no instructions upon it, the subject, at
his suggestion, was dropped. A _Voeu_, however, was adopted in favour of
formulating rules on all branches of the laws and customs of naval war,
and a convention was agreed to for the establishment of an international
Prize Court (see PRIZE). Under Art. 7 of the latter convention the Court
was to apply the "rules of international law," and in their absence the
"general principles of justice and equity." As soon as possible after
the close of the second Hague Conference the British government took
steps to call a special conference of the maritime powers, which sat
from December 4, 1908 to February 26, 1909. Among the subjects dealt
with was Blockade, the rules relating to which are as follow:--

  Art. 1. A blockade must not extend beyond the ports and coasts
  belonging to or occupied by the enemy.

  Art. 2. In accordance with the Declaration of Paris of 1856, a
  blockade, in order to be binding, must be effective--that is to say,
  it must be maintained by a force sufficient really to prevent access
  to the enemy coastline.

  Art. 3. The question whether a blockade is effective is a question of
  fact.

  Art. 4. A blockade is not regarded as raised if the blockading force
  is temporarily withdrawn on account of stress of weather.

  Art. 5. A blockade must be applied impartially to the ships of all
  nations.

  Art. 6. The commander of a blockading force may give permission to a
  warship to enter, and subsequently to leave, a blockaded port.

  Art. 7. In circumstances of distress, acknowledged by an officer of
  the blockading force, a neutral vessel may enter a place under
  blockade and subsequently leave it, provided that she has neither
  discharged nor shipped any cargo there.

  Art. 8. A blockade, in order to be binding, must be declared in
  accordance with Article 9, and notified in accordance with Articles 11
  and 16.

  Art. 9. A declaration of blockade is made either by the blockading
  power or by the naval authorities acting in its name. It specifies (1)
  the date when the blockade begins; (2) the geographical limits of the
  coastline under blockade; (3) the period within which neutral vessels
  may come out.

  Art. 10. If the operations of the blockading power, or of the naval
  authorities acting in its name, do not tally with the particulars,
  which, in accordance with Article 9 (1) and (2), must be inserted in
  the declaration of blockade, the declaration is void, and a new
  declaration is necessary in order to make the blockade operative.

  Art. 11. A declaration of blockade is notified: (1) to neutral powers,
  by the blockading power by means of a communication addressed to the
  governments direct, or to their representatives accredited to it; (2)
  to the local authorities, by the officer commanding the blockading
  force. The local authorities will, in turn, inform the foreign
  consular officers at the port or on the coastline under blockade as
  soon as possible.

  Art. 12. The rules as to declaration and notification of blockade
  apply to cases where the limits of a blockade are extended, or where a
  blockade is re-established after having been raised.

  Art. 13. The voluntary raising of a blockade, as also any restriction
  in the limits of a blockade, must be notified in the manner prescribed
  by Article 11.

  Art. 14. The liability of a neutral vessel to capture for breach of
  blockade is contingent on her knowledge, actual or presumptive, of the
  blockade.

  Art. 15. Failing proof to the contrary, knowledge of the blockade is
  presumed if the vessel left a neutral port subsequently to the
  notification of the blockade to the power to which such port belongs,
  provided that such notification was made in sufficient time.

  Art. 16. If a vessel approaching a blockaded port has no knowledge,
  actual or presumptive, of the blockade, the notification must be made
  to the vessel itself by an officer of one of the ships of the
  blockading force. This notification should be entered in the vessel's
  logbook, and must state the day and hour, and the geographical
  position of the vessel at the time. If through the negligence of the
  officer commanding the blockading force no declaration of blockade has
  been notified to the local authorities, or if in the declaration, as
  notified, no period has been mentioned within which neutral vessels
  may come out, a neutral vessel coming out of the blockaded port must
  be allowed to pass free.

  Art. 17. Neutral vessels may not be captured for breach of blockade
  except within the area of operations of the warships detailed to
  render the blockade effective.

  Art. 18. The blockading forces must not bar access to neutral ports or
  coasts.

  Art. 19. Whatever may be the ulterior destination of a vessel or of
  her cargo, she cannot be captured for breach of blockade, if, at the
  moment, she is on her way to a non-blockaded port.

  Art. 20. A vessel which has broken blockade outwards, or which has
  attempted to break blockade inwards, is liable to capture so long as
  she is pursued by a ship of the blockading force. If the pursuit is
  abandoned, or if the blockade is raised, her capture can no longer be
  effected.

  Art. 21. A vessel found guilty of breach of blockade is liable to
  condemnation. The cargo is also condemned, unless it is proved that at
  the time of the shipment of the goods the shipper neither knew nor
  could have known of the intention to break the blockade.     (T. Ba.)


FOOTNOTES:

  [1] John Marshall, secretary of state, to Rufus King, minister to
    England, 20th of September 1800, Am. State Papers, Class I, For. Rel.
    II, No. 181, J.B. Moore, _Digest of International Law_, vii. 788.

  [2] James Madison, secretary of state, to Mr Thornton, 27th of
    October 1803, 14 MS. Dom. Let. 215. Moore, _Digest of International
    Law_, vii. 789.




BLOCKHOUSE, in fortification, a small roofed work serving as a fortified
post for a small garrison. The word, common since 1500, is of uncertain
origin, and was applied to what is now called a _fort d'arrêt_, a
detached fort blocking the access to a landing, channel, pass, bridge or
defile. The modern blockhouse is a building, sometimes of two storeys,
which is loopholed on all sides, and not infrequently, in the case of
two-storey blockhouses, provided with a _mâchicoulis_ gallery.
Blockhouses are built of wood, brick, stone, corrugated iron or any
material available. During the South African War (1899-1902) they were
often sent from England to the front in ready-made sections.




BLOEMAERT, ABRAHAM (1564-1651), Dutch painter and engraver, was born at
Gorinchem, the son of an architect. He was first a pupil of Gerrit
Splinter (pupil of Frans Floris) and of Joos de Beer, at Utrecht. He
then spent three years in Paris, studying under several masters, and on
his return to his native country received further training from
Hieronymus Francken. In 1591 he went to Amsterdam, and four years later
settled finally at Utrecht, where he became dean of the Gild of St Luke.
He excelled more as a colourist than as a draughtsman, was extremely
productive, and painted and etched historical and allegorical pictures,
landscapes, still-life, animal pictures and flower pieces. Among his
pupils are his four sons, Hendrick, Frederick, Cornelis and Adriaan (all
of whom achieved considerable reputation as painters or engravers), the
two Honthorsts and Jacob G. Cuyp.




BLOEMEN, JAN FRANS VAN (1662-1740), Flemish painter, was born at
Antwerp, and studied and lived in Italy. At Rome he was styled Orizonte,
on account of his painting of distance in his landscapes, which are
reminiscent of Gaspard Poussin and much admired. His brothers Pieter
(1657-1719), styled Standaart (from his military pictures), and Norbert
(1670-1746), were also well-known painters.




BLOEMFONTEIN, capital of the Orange Free State, in 29º 8' S., 26º 18' E.
It is situated on the open veld, surrounded by a few low kopjes, 4518
ft. above the sea, 105 m. by rail E. by S. of Kimberley, 750 N.E. by E.
of Cape Town, 450 N. by E. of Port Elizabeth, and 257 S.W. of
Johannesburg.

Bloemfontein is a very pleasant town, regularly laid out with streets
running at right angles and a large central market square. Many of the
houses are surrounded by large wooded gardens. Through the town runs the
Bloemspruit. After a disastrous flood in 1904 the course of this spring
was straightened and six stone bridges placed across it. There are
several fine public buildings, mostly built of red brick and a
fine-grained white stone quarried in the neighbourhood. The Raadzaal, a
building in the Renaissance style, faces Market Square. Formerly the
meeting-place of the Orange Free State Raad, it is now the seat of the
provincial council. In front of the old Raadzaal (used as law courts) is
a statue of President Brand. In Douglas Street is an unpretentious
building used in turn as a church, a raadzaal, a court-house and a
museum. In it was signed (1854) the convention which recognized the
independence of the Free State Boers (see ORANGE FREE STATE: _History_).
Among the churches the most important, architecturally, are the Dutch
Reformed, a building with two spires, and the Anglican cathedral, which
has a fine interior. The chief educational establishment is Grey
University College, built 1906-1908 at a cost of £125,000. It stands in
grounds of 300 acres, a mile and a half from the town. In the town is
the original Grey College, founded in 1856 by Sir George Grey, when
governor of Cape Colony. The post and telegraph office in Market Square
is one of the finest buildings in the town. The public library is housed
in a handsome building in Warden Street. Opposite it is the new national
museum.

Bloemfontein possesses few manufactures, but is the trading centre of
the province. Having a dry healthy climate, it is a favourite
residential town and a resort for invalids, being recommended especially
for pulmonary disease. The mean maximum temperature is 76.7° Fahr., the
mean minimum 45.8°; the mean annual rainfall about 24 in. There is an
excellent water-supply, obtained partly from Bloemspruit, but
principally from the Modder river at Sanna's Post, 22 m. to the east,
and from reservoirs at Moches Dam and Magdepoort.

The population in 1904 was 33,883, of whom, including the garrison of
3487, 15,501 were white, compared with a white population of 2077 in
1890. The coloured inhabitants are mostly Bechuana and Basuto. Most of
the whites are of British origin, and English is the common language of
all, including the Dutch.

The _spruit_ or spring which gives its name to the town was called after
one of the emigrant farmers, Jan Bloem. The town dates from 1846, in
which year Major H.D. Warden, then British resident north of the Orange,
selected the site as the seat of his administration. When in 1854
independence was conferred on the country the town was chosen by the
Boers as the seat of government. It became noted for the intelligence of
its citizens, and for the educational advantages it offered at the time
when education among the Boers was thought of very lightly. In 1892 the
railway connecting it with Cape Town and Johannesburg was completed.
During the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 it was occupied by the British
under Lord Roberts without resistance (13th of March 1900), fourteen
days after the surrender of General Cronje at Paardeberg. In Market
Square on the 28th of the following May the annexation of the Orange
Free State to the British dominions was proclaimed. In 1907 the first
session of the first parliament elected under the constitution granting
the colony self-government was held in Bloemfontein. In 1910 when the
colony became a province of the Union of South Africa under its old
designation of Orange Free State, Bloemfontein was chosen as the seat of
the Supreme Court of South Africa. Its growth as a business centre after
the close of the war in 1902 was very marked. The rateable value
increased from £709,000 in 1901 to £2,400,000 in 1905.




BLOET, ROBERT (d. 1123), English bishop, was chancellor to William I.
and Rufus. From the latter he received the see of Lincoln (1093) in
succession to Remigius. His private character was indifferent; but he
administered his see with skill and prudence, built largely, and kept a
magnificent household, which served as a training-school even for the
sons of nobles. Bloet was active in assisting Henry I. during the
rebellion of 1102, and became that monarch's justiciar. Latterly,
however, he fell out of favour, and, although he had been very rich, was
impoverished by the fines which the king extorted from him. Perhaps his
wealth was his chief offence in the king's eyes; for he was in
attendance on Henry when seized with his last illness. He was the patron
of the chronicler Henry of Huntingdon, whom he advanced to an
archdeaconry.

  Henry of Huntingdon and W. Malmesbury (_De Gestis Pontificum_) are
  original authorities. See E.A. Freeman's _William Rufus_; Sir James
  Ramsay, _The Foundations of England_, vol. ii.     (H. W. C. D.)




BLOIS, LOUIS DE (1506-1566), Flemish mystical writer, generally known
under the name of BLOSIUS, was born in October 1506 at the château of
Donstienne, near Liége, of an illustrious family to which several
crowned heads were allied. He was educated at the court of the
Netherlands with the future emperor Charles V. of Germany, who remained
to the last his staunch friend. At the age of fourteen he received the
Benedictine habit in the monastery of Liessics in Hainaut, of which he
became abbot in 1530. Charles V. pressed in vain upon him the
archbishopric of Cambrai, but Blosius studiously exerted himself in the
reform of his monastery and in the composition of devotional works. He
died at his monastery on the 7th of January 1566.

Blosius's works, which were written in Latin, have been translated into
almost every European language, and have appealed not only to Roman
Catholics, but to many English laymen of note, such as W.E. Gladstone
and Lord Coleridge. The best editions of his collected works are the
first edition by J. Frojus (Louvain, 1568), and the Cologne reprints
(1572, 1587). His best-known works are:--the _Institutio Spiritualis_
(Eng. trans., _A Book of Spiritual Instruction_, London, 1900);
_Consolatio Pusillanimium_ (Eng. trans., _Comfort for the
Faint-Hearted_, London, 1903); _Sacellum Animae Fidelis_ (Eng. trans.,
_The Sanctuary of the Faithful Soul_, London, 1905); all these three
works were translated and edited by Father Bertrand Wilberforce, O.P.,
and have been reprinted several times; and especially _Speculum
Monachorum_ (French trans. by Félicité de Lamennais, Paris, 1809; Eng.
trans., Paris, 1676; re-edited by Lord Coleridge, London, 1871, 1872,
and inserted in "Paternoster" series, 1901).

  See Georges de Blois, _Louis de Blois, un Bénédictin au XVI^ème
  siècle_ (Paris, 1875), Eng. trans. by Lady Lovat (London, 1878, &c.).




BLOIS, a town of central France, capital of the department of
Loir-et-Cher, 35 m. S.W. of Orleans, on the Orleans railway between that
city and Tours. Pop. (1906) 18,457. Situated in a thickly-wooded
district on the right bank of the Loire, it covers the summits and
slopes of two eminences between which runs the principal thoroughfare of
the town named after the philosopher Denis Papin. A bridge of the 18th
century from which it presents the appearance of an amphitheatre, unites
Blois with the suburb of Vienne on the left bank of the river. The
streets of the higher and older part of the town are narrow and
tortuous, and in places so steep that means of ascent is provided by
flights of steps. The famous château of the family of Orleans (see
ARCHITECTURE: _Renaissance Architecture in France_), a fine example of
Renaissance architecture, stands on the more westerly of the two hills.
It consists of three main wings, and a fourth and smaller wing, and is
built round a courtyard. The most interesting portion is the north-west
wing, which was erected by Francis I., and contains the room where
Henry, duke of Guise, was assassinated by order of Henry III. The
striking feature of the interior façade is the celebrated spiral
staircase tower, the bays of which, with their beautifully sculptured
balustrades, project into the courtyard (see ARCHITECTURE, Plate VIII.
fig. 84). The north-east wing, in which is the entrance to the castle,
was built by Louis XII. and is called after him; it contains
picture-galleries and a museum. Opposite is the Gaston wing, erected by
Gaston, duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XIII., which contains a
majestic domed staircase. In the north corner of the courtyard is the
Salle des États, which, together with the donjon in the west corner,
survives from the 13th century. Of the churches of Blois, the cathedral
of St Louis, a building of the end of the 17th century, but in Gothic
style, is surpassed in interest by St Nicolas, once the church of the
abbey of St Laumer, and dating from the 12th and 13th centuries. The
picturesqueness of the town is enhanced by many old mansions, the chief
of which is the Renaissance Hôtel d'Alluye, and by numerous fountains,
among which that named after Louis XII. is of very graceful design. The
prefecture, the law court, the corn-market and the fine stud-buildings
are among the chief modern buildings.

Blois is the seat of a bishop, a prefect, and a court of assizes. It
has a tribunal of first instance, a tribunal of commerce, a board of
trade arbitration, a branch of the Bank of France, a communal college
and training-colleges. The town is a market for the agricultural and
pastoral regions of Beauce and Sologne, and has a considerable trade in
grain, the wines of the Loire valley, and in horses and other
live-stock. It manufactures boots and shoes, biscuits, chocolate,
upholstering materials, furniture, machinery and earthenware, and has
vinegar-works, breweries, leather-works and foundries.

Though of ancient origin, Blois is first distinctly mentioned by Gregory
of Tours in the 6th century, and was not of any importance till the 9th
century, when it became the seat of a powerful countship (see below). In
1196 Count Louis granted privileges to the townsmen; the commune, which
survived throughout the middle ages, probably dated from this time. The
counts of the Châtillon line resided at Blois more often than their
predecessors, and the oldest parts of the chateau (13th century) were
built by them. In 1429 Joan of Arc made Blois her base of operations for
the relief of Orleans. After his captivity in England, Charles of
Orleans in 1440 took up his residence in the château, where in 1462 his
son, afterwards Louis XII., was born. In the 16th century Blois was
often the resort of the French court. Its inhabitants included many
Calvinists, and it was in 1562 and 1567 the scene of struggles between
them and the supporters of the Roman church. In 1576 and 1588 Henry
III., king of France, chose Blois as the meeting-place of the
states-general, and in the latter year he brought about the murders of
Henry, duke of Guise, and his brother, Louis, archbishop of Reims and
cardinal, in the château, where their deaths were shortly followed by
that of the queen-mother, Catherine de' Medici. From 1617 to 1619 Marie
de' Medici, wife of King Henry IV., exiled from the court, lived at the
château, which was soon afterwards given by Louis XIII. to his brother
Gaston, duke of Orleans, who lived there till his death in 1660. The
bishopric dates from the end of the 17th century. In 1814 Blois was for
a short time the seat of the regency of Marie Louise, wife of Napoleon
I.

  See L. de la Saussaye, _Blois et ses environs_ (1873); _Histoire du
  château de Blois_ (1873); L. Bergevin et A. Dupré, _Histoire de Blois_
  (1847).




BLOIS, COUNTSHIP OF. From 865 to about 940 the countship of Blois was
one of those which were held in fee by the margrave of Neustria, Robert
the Strong, and by his successors, the abbot Hugh, Odo (or Eudes),
Robert II. and Hugh the Great. It then passed, about 940 and for nearly
three centuries, to a new family of counts, whose chiefs, at first
vassals of the dukes of France, Hugh the Great and Hugh Capet, became in
987, by the accession of the Capetian dynasty to the throne of France,
the direct vassals of the crown. These new counts were orjginally very
powerful. With the countship of Blois they united, from 940 to 1044,
that of Touraine, and from about 950 to 1218, and afterwards from 1269
to 1286, the countship of Chartres remained in their possession.

The counts of Blois of the house of the Theobalds (Thibauds) began with
Theobald I., the Cheat, who became count about 940. He was succeeded by
his son, Odo (Eudes) I., about 975. Theobald II., eldest son of Odo I.,
became count in 996, and was succeeded by Odo II., younger son of Odo
I., about 1005. Odo II. was one of the most warlike barons of his time.
With the already considerable domains which he held from his ancestors,
he united the heritage of his kinsman, Stephen I., count of Troyes. In
1033 he disputed the crown of Burgundy with the emperor, Conrad the
Salic, and perished in 1037 while fighting in Lorraine. He was succeeded
in 1037 by his eldest son, Theobald III., who was defeated by the
Angevins in 1044, and was forced to give up the town of Tours and its
dependencies to the count of Anjou. In 1089 Stephen Henry, eldest son of
Theobald III., became count. He took part in the first crusade, fell
into the hands of the Saracens, and died in captivity; he married Adela,
daughter of William I., king of England. In 1102 Stephen Henry was
succeeded by his son, Theobald IV. the Great, who united the countship
of Troyes with his domains in 1128. In 1135, on the death of his
maternal uncle, Henry I., king of England, he was called to Normandy by
the barons of the duchy, but soon renounced his claims on learning that
his younger brother, Stephen, had just been proclaimed king of England.
In 1152 Theobald V. the Good, second son of Theobald IV., became count;
he died in 1191 in Syria, at the siege of Acre. His son Louis succeeded
in 1191, took part in the fourth crusade, and after the taking of
Constantinople was rewarded with the duchy of Nicaea. He was killed at
the battle of Adrianople in 1205, in which year he was succeeded by his
son, Theobald VI. the Young, who died childless. In 1218 the countship
passed to Margaret, eldest daughter of Theobald V., and to Walter
(Gautier) of Avesnes, her third husband.

The Châtillon branch of the counts of Blois began in 1230 with Mary of
Avesnes, daughter of Margaret of Blois and her husband, Hugh of
Châtillon, count of St Pol. In 1241 her brother, John of Châtillon,
became count of Blois, and was succeeded in 1279 by his daughter, Joan
of Châtillon, who married Peter, count of Alençon, fifth son of Louis
IX., king of France. In 1286 Joan sold the countship of Chartres to the
king of France. Hugh of Châtillon, her first-cousin, became count of
Blois in 1293, and was succeeded by his son, Guy I., in 1307. In 1342
Louis II., eldest son of Guy I., died at the battle of Crécy, and his
brother, Charles of Blois, disputed the duchy of Brittany with John of
Montfort. Louis III., eldest son of Louis II., became count in 1346, and
was succeeded by John II., second son of Louis II., in 1372. In 1381 Guy
II., brother of Louis III. and John II., succeeded in 1381, but died
childless. Overwhelmed with debt, he had sold the countship of Blois to
Louis I., duke of Orleans, brother of King Charles VI., who took
possession of it in 1397.

In 1498 the countship of Blois was united with the crown by the
accession of King Louis XII., grandson and second successor of Louis I.,
duke of Orleans.

  See Bernier, _Histoire de Blois_ (1682); La Saussaye, _Histoire de la
  ville de Blois_ (1846).     (A. Lo.)




BLOMEFIELD, FRANCIS (1705-1752), English topographer of the county of
Norfolk, was born at Fersfield, Norfolk, on the 23rd of July 1705. On
leaving Cambridge in 1727 he was ordained, becoming in 1729 rector of
Hargham, Norfolk, and immediately afterwards rector of Fersfield, his
father's family living. In 1733 he mooted the idea of a history of
Norfolk, for which he had begun collecting material at the age of
fifteen, and shortly afterwards, while collecting further information
for his book, discovered some of the famous _Paston Letters_. By 1736 he
was ready to put some of the results of his researches into type. At the
end of 1739 the first volume of the _History of Norfolk_ was completed.
It was printed at the author's own press, bought specially for the
purpose. The second volume was ready in 1745. There is little doubt that
in compiling his book Blomefield had frequent recourse to the existing
historical collections of Le Neve, Kirkpatrick and Tanner, his own work
being to a large extent one of expansion and addition. To Le Neve in
particular a large share of the credit is due. When half-way through his
third volume, Blomefield, who had come up to London in connexion with a
special piece of research, caught smallpox, of which he died on the 16th
of January 1752. The remainder of his work was published posthumously,
and the whole eleven volumes were republished in London between 1805 and
1810.




BLOMFIELD, SIR ARTHUR WILLIAM (1829-1899), English architect, son of
Bishop C.J. Blomfield, was born on the 6th of March 1829, and educated
at Rugby and Trinity, Cambridge. He was then articled as an architect to
P.C. Hardwick, and subsequently obtained a large practice on his own
account. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861,
and a fellow (1867) and vice-president (1886) of the Royal Institute of
British Architects. In 1887 he became architect to the Bank of England,
and designed the law courts branch in Fleet Street, and he was
associated with A.E. Street in the building of the law courts. In 1889
he was knighted. He died on the 30th of October 1899. He was twice
married, and brought up two sons, Charles J. Blomfield and Arthur Conran
Blomfield, to his own profession, of which they became distinguished
representatives. Among the numerous churches which Sir Arthur Blomfield
designed, his work at St Saviour's, Southwark, is a notable example of
his use of revived Gothic, and he was highly regarded as a restorer.




BLOMFIELD, CHARLES JAMES (1786-1857), English divine, was born on the
29th of May 1786 at Bury St Edmunds. He was educated at the local
grammar school and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he gained the
Browne medals for Latin and Greek odes, and carried off the Craven
scholarship. In 1808 he graduated as third wrangler and first medallist,
and in the following year was elected to a fellowship at Trinity
College. The first-fruits of his scholarship was an edition of the
_Prometheus_ of Aeschylus in 1810; this was followed by editions of the
_Septem contra Thebas, Persae, Choephorae_, and _Agamemnon_, of
Callimachus, and of the fragments of Sappho, Sophron and Alcaeus.
Blomfield, however, soon ceased to devote himself entirely to
scholarship. He had been ordained in 1810, and held in quick succession
the livings of Chesterford, Quarrington, Dunton, Great and Little
Chesterford, and Tuddenham. In 1817 he was appointed private chaplain to
Wm. Howley, bishop of London. In 1819 he was nominated to the rich
living of St Botolph's, Bishopsgate, and in 1822 he became archdeacon of
Colchester. Two years later he was raised to the bishopric of Chester
where he carried through many much-needed reforms. In 1828 he was
translated to the bishopric of London, which he held for twenty-eight
years. During this period his energy and zeal did much to extend the
influence of the church. He was one of the best debaters in the House of
Lords, took a leading position in the action for church reform which
culminated in the ecclesiastical commission, and did much for the
extension of the colonial episcopate; and his genial and kindly nature
made him an invaluable mediator in the controversies arising out of the
tractarian movement. His health at last gave way, and in 1856 he was
permitted to resign his bishopric, retaining Fulham Palace as his
residence, with a pension of £6000 per annum. He died on the 5th of
August 1857. His published works, exclusive of those above mentioned,
consist of charges, sermons, lectures and pamphlets, and of a _Manual of
Private and Family Prayers_. He was a frequent contributor to the
quarterly reviews, chiefly on classical subjects.

  See _Memoirs of Charles James Blomfield, D.D., Bishop of London, with
  Selections from his Correspondence_, edited by his son, Alfred
  Blomfield (1863); G.E. Biber, _Bishop Blomfield and his Times_ (1857).




BLOMFIELD, EDWARD VALENTINE (1788-1816), English classical scholar,
brother of Bishop C.J. Blomfield, was born at Bury St Edmunds on the
14th of February 1788. Going to Caius College, Cambridge, he was
thirteenth wrangler in 1811, obtained several of the classical prizes of
the university, and became a fellow and lecturer at Emmanuel College. In
1813 he travelled in Germany and made the acquaintance of some of the
great scholars of Germany. On his return, he published in the _Museum
Criticum_ (No. ii.) an interesting paper on "The Present State of
Classical Literature in Germany." Blomfield is chiefly known by his
translation of Matthiae's _Greek Grammar_ (1819), which was prepared for
the press by his brother. He died on the 9th of October 1816, his early
death depriving Cambridge of one who seemed destined to take a high
place amongst her most brilliant classical scholars.

  See "Memoir of Edward Valentine Blomfield," by Bishop Monk, in _Museum
  Criticum_, No. vii.




BLONDEL, DAVID (1591-1655), French Protestant clergyman, was born at
Châlons-sur-Marne in 1591, and died on the 6th of April 1655. In 1650 he
succeeded G.J. Vossius in the professorship of history at Amsterdam. His
works were very numerous; in some of them he showed a remarkable
critical faculty, as in his dissertation on Pope Joan (1647, 1657), in
which he came to the conclusion, now universally accepted, that the
whole story is a mere myth. Considerable Protestant indignation was
excited against him on account of this book.




BLONDEL, JACQUES FRANÇOIS (1705-1774), French architect, began life as
an architectural engraver, but developed into an architect of
considerable distinction, if of no great originality. As architect to
Louis XV. from 1755 he necessarily did much in the rococo manner,
although it would seem that he conformed to fashion rather than to
artistic conviction. He was among the earliest founders of schools of
architecture in France, and for this he was distinguished by the
Academy; but he is now best remembered by his voluminous work
_L'Architecture française_, in which he was the continuator of Marot.
The book is a precious collection of views of famous buildings, many of
which have disappeared or been remodelled.




BLONDIN (1824-1897), French tight-rope walker and acrobat, was born at
St Omer, France, on the 28th of February 1824. His real name was Jean
François Gravelet. When five years old he was sent to the École de
Gymnase at Lyons and, after six months' training as an acrobat, made his
first public appearance as "The Little Wonder." His superior skill and
grace as well as the originality of the settings of his acts, made him a
popular favourite. He especially owed his celebrity and fortune to his
idea of crossing Niagara Falls on a tight-rope, 1100 ft. long, 160 ft.
above the water. This he accomplished, first in 1859, a number of times,
always with different theatric variations: blindfold, in a sack,
trundling a wheelbarrow, on stilts, carrying a man on his back, sitting
down midway while he made and ate an omelette. In 1861 Blondin first
appeared in London, at the Crystal Palace, turning somersaults on stilts
on a rope stretched across the central transept, 170 ft. from the
ground. In 1862 he again gave a series of performances at the Crystal
Palace, and elsewhere in England, and on the continent. After a period
of retirement he reappeared in 1880, his final performance being given
at Belfast in 1896. He died at Ealing, London, on the 19th of February
1897.




BLOOD, the circulating fluid in the veins and arteries of animals. The
word itself is common to Teutonic languages; the O. Eng. is _blód_, cf.
Gothic _bloth_, Dutch _bloed_, Ger. _Blut_. It is probably ultimately
connected with the root which appears in "blow," "bloom," meaning
flourishing or vigorous. The Gr. word for blood, [Greek: aima], appears
as a prefix _haemo-_ in many compound words. As that on which the life
depends, as the supposed seat of the passions and emotions, and as that
part which a child is believed chiefly to inherit from its parents, the
word "blood" is used in many figurative and transferred senses; thus "to
have his blood," "to fire the blood," "cold blood," "blood-royal,"
"half" or "whole blood," &c. The expression "blue blood" is from the
Spanish _sangre azul._ The nobles of Castile claimed to be free from all
admixture with the darker blood of Moors or Jews, a proof being supposed
to lie in the blue veins that showed in their fairer skins. The common
English expletive "bloody," used as an adjective or adverb, has been
given many fanciful origins; it has been supposed to be a contraction of
"by our Lady," or an adaptation of the oath common during the 17th
century, "'sblood," a contraction of "God's blood." The exact origin of
the expression is not quite clear, but it is certainly merely an
application of the adjective formed from "blood." The _New English
Dictionary_ suggests that it refers to the use of "blood" for a young
rowdy of aristocratic birth, which was common at the end of the 17th
century, and later became synonymous with "dandy," "buck," &c.; "bloody
drunk" meant therefore "drunk as a blood," "drunk as a lord." The
expression came into common colloquial use as a mere intensive, and was
so used till the middle of the 18th century. There can be little doubt
that the use of the word has been considerably affected by the idea of
blood as the vital principle, and therefore something strong, vigorous,
and parallel as an intensive epithet with such expressions as
"thundering," "awfully" and the like.


ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

In all living organisms, except the most minute, only a minimum number
of cells can come into immediate contact with the general world, whence
is to be drawn the food supply for the whole organism. Hence those
cells--and they are by far the most numerous--which do not lie on the
food-absorbing surface, must gain their nutriment by some indirect
means. Further, each living cell produces waste products whose
accumulation would speedily prove injurious to the cell, hence they must
be constantly removed from its immediate neighbourhood and indeed from
the organism as a whole. In this instance again, only a few cells can
lie on a surface whence such materials can be directly discharged to the
exterior. Hence the main number of the cells of the organism must depend
upon some mechanism by which the waste products can be carried away from
them to that group of cells whose duty it is to modify them, or
discharge them from the body. These two ends are attained by the aid of
a circulating fluid, a fluid which is constantly flowing past every cell
of the body. From it the cells extract the food materials they require
for their sustenance, and into it they discharge the waste materials
resulting from their activity. This circulating medium is the blood.

Whilst undoubtedly the two functions of this circulating fluid above
given are the more prominent, there are yet others of great importance.
For instance, it is known that many tissues as a result of their activity
produce certain chemical substances which are of essential importance to
the life of other tissue cells. These substances--_internal secretions_
as they are termed--are carried to the second tissue by the blood stream.
Again, many instances are known in which two distant tissues communicate
with one another by means of chemical messengers, bodies termed
_hormones_ ([Greek: ormaein], to stir up), which are produced by one
group of cells, and sent to the other group to excite them to activity.
Here, also, the path by which such messengers travel is the blood stream.
A further and most important manner in which the circulating fluid is
utilized in the life of an animal is seen in the way in which it is
employed in protecting the body should it be invaded by micro-organisms.

Hence it is clear that the blood is of the most vital importance to the
healthy life of the body. But the fact that it is present as a
circulating medium exposes the animal to a great danger, viz. that it
may be lost should any vessel carrying it become ruptured. This is
constantly liable to happen, but to minimize as far as possible any such
loss, the blood is endowed with the peculiar property of _clotting_,
i.e. of setting to a solid or stiff jelly by means of which the orifices
of the torn vessels become plugged and the bleeding stayed.

The performance of these essential functions depends upon the
maintenance of a continuous flow past all tissue cells, and this is
attained by the circulatory mechanism, consisting of a central pump, the
heart, and a system of ramifying tubes, the arteries, through which the
blood is forced from the heart to every tissue (see VASCULAR SYSTEM). A
second set of tubes, the veins, collects the blood and returns it to the
heart. In many invertebrates the circulating fluid is actually poured
into the tissue spaces from the open terminals of the arteries. From
these spaces it is in turn drained away by the veins. Such a system is
termed a _haemolymph system_ and the circulating fluid the haemolymph.
Here the essential point gained is that the fluid is brought into direct
contact with the tissue cells. In all vertebrates, the ends of the
arteries are united to the commencements of the veins by a plexus of
extremely minute tubes, the capillaries, consequently the blood is
always retained within closed tubes and never comes into contact with
the tissue cells. It is while passing through the capillaries that the
blood performs its work; here the blood stream is at its slowest and is
brought nearest to the tissue cell, only being separated from it by the
extremely thin wall of the capillary and by an equally thin layer of
fluid. Through this narrow barrier the interchanges between cell and
blood take place.

The advantage gained in the vertebrate animal by retaining the blood in
a closed system of tubes lies in the great diminution of resistance to
the flow of blood, and the consequent great increase in rate of flow
past the tissue cells. Hence any food stuffs which can travel quickly
through the capillary wall to the tissue cell outside can be supplied in
proportionately greater quantity within a given time, without requiring
any very great increase in the concentration of that substance in the
blood. Conversely, any highly diffusible substance may be withdrawn
from the tissues by the blood at a similarly increased pace. These
conditions are more peculiarly of importance for the supply of oxygen
and the removal of carbonic acid-especially for the former, because the
amount of it which can be carried by the blood is small. But as the rate
at which a tissue lives, _i.e_. its activity, depends upon the rate of
its chemical reactions, and as these are fundamentally oxidative, the
more rapidly oxygen is carried to a tissue the more rapidly it can live,
and the greater the amount of work it can perform within a given time.
The rate of supply is of much less importance in the case of the other
food substances because they are far more soluble in water, so that the
supply in sufficient quantity can easily be met by a relatively slow
blood flow. Hence we find that the gradual evolution of the animal
kingdom goes hand in hand with the gradual development of a greater
oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood and an increase in the rate of its
flow.

In the groundwork of a tissue are a number of spaces--the _tissue
spaces_. They are filled with fluid and intercommunicate freely, finally
connecting with a number of fine tubes, the lymphatics, through which
excess of fluid or any solid particles present are drained away. The
contained fluid acts as an intermediary between the blood and the cell;
from it, the cell takes its various food stuffs, these having in the
first instance been derived from the blood, and into it the cell
discharges its waste products. On the course of the lymphatics a number
of typical structures, the lymphatic glands, are placed, and the lymph
has to pass through these structures where any deleterious products are
retained, and the fluid thus purified is drained away by further
lymphatics and finally returned to the blood. Thus there is a second
stream of fluid from the tissues, but one vastly slower than that of the
blood. The flow is too slow for it to act as the vehicle for the removal
of those waste products (carbonic acid, &c.) which must of necessity be
removed quickly. These must be removed by the blood. The same is true
for the main number of other waste products, which, however, being of
small molecular size are readily absorbed into the blood stream.

But in addition to fluid, the tissue spaces may at times be found to
contain solid matter in the form of particles, which may represent the
debris of destroyed cells, or which are, as is quite commonly the case,
micro-organisms. Apparently such material cannot be removed from a
tissue by absorption into the blood stream--indeed in the case of living
organisms such an absorption would in many instances rapidly prove
fatal, and special provision is made to prevent such an accident. These,
therefore, are made to travel along the lymphatic channels, and so,
before gaining access to the blood stream and thus to the body
generally, have to run the gauntlet of the protective mechanism provided
by the lymphatic glands, where in the major number of cases they are
readily destroyed.

Hence we see that first and foremost we have to regard the blood as a
food-carrier to all the cells of the body; in the second place as the
vehicle carrying away most if not all the waste products; in a third
direction, it is acting as a means for transmitting chemical substances
manufactured in one tissue to distant cells of the body for whose
nutrition or excitation they may be essential; and in addition to these
important functions there is yet another whose value it is almost
impossible to overestimate, for it plays the essential rôle in rendering
the animal immune to the attacks of invading organisms. The question of
immunity is discussed elsewhere, and it is sufficient merely to indicate
the chief means by which the blood subserves this essential protective
mechanism. Should living organisms find their way into the surface cells
or within the tissue spaces, the body fights them in a number of ways,
(1) It may produce one or more chemical substances capable of
neutralizing the toxic material produced by the organism. (2) It may
produce chemical substances which act as poisons to the micro-organism,
either paralysing it or actually killing it. Or (3) the organism may be
attacked and taken up into the body of wandering cells, _e.g_. certain
of the leucocytes, and then digested by them. Such cells are therefore
called phagocytes ([Greek: Phagein], to eat). Thus, by its power of
reacting in these ways the body has become capable of withstanding the
attacks of many different varieties of micro-organisms, of both animal
and vegetable origin.

_General Properties._--Blood is an opaque, viscid liquid of bright red
colour possessing a distinct and characteristic odour, especially when
warm. Its opacity is due to the presence of a very large number of solid
particles, the blood corpuscles, having a higher refractive index than
that of the liquid in which they float. The specific gravity in man
averages about 1.055. The specific gravity of the liquid portion, the
plasma (Gr. [Greek: plasma], something formed or moulded, [Greek:
plassein], to mould), is about 1.027, whilst that of the corpuscles
amounts to 1.088. To litmus it reacts as a weak alkali.

_Blood Plasma._--The plasma is a solution in water of a varied number of
substances, and as a solvent it confers on the blood its power of acting
as a carrier of food stuffs and waste products. One important food
substance, oxygen, is, however, only partly carried in solution, being
mainly combined with haemoglobin in the red corpuscles. The food stuffs
carried by the plasma are proteins, carbohydrates, salts and water. The
main waste products dissolved in it are ammonium carbonate, urea,
urates, xanthin bases, creatin and small amounts of other nitrogenous
bodies, carbonic acid as carbonates, other carbon compounds such as
cholesterin, lecithin and a number of other substances. Thus, if we take
mammalian blood as a type, the plasma would have the following
approximate composition:--

  In 1000 grms. plasma--
    Water                                            901.51
    Substances not vaporizing at 120° C.--
      Fibrin                                  8.06
      Other proteins and organic substances  81.92
      Inorganic substances--
        Chlorine                     3.536
        Sulphuric acid               0.129
        Phosphoric acid              0.145
        Potassium                    0.314
        Sodium                       3.410
        Calcium                      0.298
        Magnesium                    0.218
        Oxygen                       0.455
                                     -----    8.505
                                              -----   98.49
                                                    -------
                                                    1000.00

_Proteins._--The proteins of the blood plasma belong to the two classes
of the albumins and the globulins. The globulins present are named
fibrinogen and serum-globulin; as its name implies, the chief
physiological property of fibrinogen is that it can give rise to fibrin,
the solid substance formed when blood clots. It possesses the typical
properties of a globulin, i.e. it coagulates on heating (in this
instance at a temperature of 56°C.), and is precipitated by half
saturating its solution with ammonium sulphate. It differs from other
globulins in that it is less soluble. It is only present in very small
quantities, 0.4%. The other globulin, serum-globulin, is not coagulated
until 75°C. is reached, and we now know that it is in reality a mixture
of several proteins, but so far these have not been completely separated
from one another and obtained in a pure form. On dialysing a solution of
serum-globulin a part is precipitated, and this portion has been termed
the eu-globulin fraction, the remainder being known, in
contradistinction, as the pseudo-globulin. Again, on diluting a solution
and adding a small amount of acetic acid a precipitate is formed which
in some respects differs from the remainder of the globulin present.
Whether in these two instances we are dealing with approximately pure
substances is extremely doubtful. A further important point in connexion
with the chemistry of the globulins is that dextrose may be found among
their decomposition products, i.e. that a part of it, or possibly the
whole, possesses a glucoside character.

Serum-albumin gives all the typical colour and precipitation reactions
of the albumins. If plasma be weakly acidified with sulphuric acid, then
treated with crystals of ammonium sulphate until a slight precipitate
forms, filtered and the filtrate allowed to evaporate very slowly,
typical crystals of serum-albumin may form. According to many it is a
uniform and specific substance, but others hold the view that it
consists of at least three distinct substances, as shown by the fact
that if a solution be gradually heated coagulation will occur at three
different temperatures, viz. at 73°, 77° and 84° C. On the other hand
the close agreement between different analyses of even the amorphous
preparations points to there being but one serum-albumin.

When blood clots two new proteins make their appearance in the fluid
part of the blood, or serum, as it is now called. The first of these is
fibrin ferment (for its origin see section on _Clotting_ below). The
other, fibrinoglobulin, possesses all the typical characteristics of the
globulins and coagulates at 64° C.

_Carbohydrates._--Three several carbohydrates are described as occurring
in plasma, viz. glycogen, animal gum and dextrose. If glycogen is
present in solution in the plasma it is there in very small quantities
only, and has probably arisen from the destruction of the white blood
corpuscles, since some leucocytes undoubtedly contain glycogen. A small
amount of carbohydrate having the formula for starch and yielding a
reducing sugar on hydrolysis with acid has also been described. The
constant carbohydrate constituent of plasma, however, is dextrose. This
is present to the approximate amount of 0.15% in arterial blood. The
amount may be much greater in the blood of the portal vein during
carbohydrate absorption, and according to some observers there is less
in venous than in arterial blood, but the difference is small and falls
within the error of observation. The statement that when no absorption
is taking place the blood of the hepatic vein is richer in dextrose than
that of the portal vein (Bernard) is denied by Pavy.

_Fats._--Plasma or serum is as a rule quite clear, but after a meal rich
in fats it may become quite milky owing to the presence of neutral fats
in a very fine state of subdivision. This suspended fat rapidly
disappears from the blood after fat absorption has ceased. To some
extent it varies in composition with that of the fat absorbed, but
usually consists of the glycerides of the common fatty acids--palmitic,
stearic and oleic. In addition, there is a small amount of fatty acid in
solution in the plasma. As to the form in which this occurs there is
some uncertainty. It is possibly present as a soap or even as a neutral
fat, since a little can be dissolved in plasma, the solvent substance
being probably protein or cholesterin. Fatty acids also appear to be
present to some extent combined with cholesterin forming cholesterin
esters (about 0.06%).

_Other Organic Compounds._--In addition to the substances above
described, belonging to the three main classes of food stuffs, there are
still other organic bodies present in plasma in small amounts, which for
convenience we may classify as non-nitrogenous and nitrogenous. Among
the former may be mentioned lactic acid, glycerin, a lipochrome, and
probably many other substances of a similar type whose separation has
not yet been effected.

The non-protein nitrogenous constituents consist of the following:
ammonia as carbonate or carbamate (0.2 to 0.6%), urea (0.02 to 0.05%),
creatine, creatinine, uric acid, xanthine, hypoxanthine and occasionally
hippuric acid. Three ferments are also described as being present: (1) a
glycolytic ferment exerting an action upon dextrose; (2) a lipase or
fat-splitting ferment; and (3) a diastase capable of converting starch
into sugar.

_Salts._--The saline constituents of plasma comprise chlorides,
phosphates, carbonates and possibly sulphates, of sodium, potassium,
calcium and magnesium. The most abundant metal is sodium and the most
abundant acid is hydrochloric. These two are present in sufficient
amount to form about 0.65% of sodium chloride. The phosphate is present
to about 0.02%. Sulphuric acid is always present if the blood has been
calcined for the purposes of the analysis, and may then be present to
about 0.013%. This is, however, probably produced during the destruction
of the protein, since it has been shown that no sulphate can be removed
from normal plasma by dialysis. The amount of potassium present (0.03%)
is less than one-tenth of that of the sodium, and the quantities of
calcium and magnesium are even less.

_Formed Elements._--When viewed under the microscope the main number of
these are seen to be small yellow bodies of very uniform size, size and
shape varying, however, in different animals. When observed in bulk they
have a red colour, their presence in fact giving the typical colour to
blood. These are the _red blood corpuscles_ or _erythrocytes_ (Gr.
[Greek: erythros], red). Mingled with them in the blood are a smaller
number of corpuscles which possess no colour and have therefore been
called _white blood corpuscles_ or _leucocytes_ (Gr. [Greek: leukos],
white). Lastly, there are present a large number of small lens-shaped
structures, less in number than the red corpuscles, and much more
difficult to distinguish. These are known as _blood platelets_.

_Red Corpuscles._--These are present in very large numbers and, under
normal conditions, all possess exactly the same appearance. With rare
exceptions their shape is that of a biconcave disk with bevelled edges,
the size varying somewhat in different animals, as is seen in the
following table which gives their diameters:--

  Man       0.0075 mm.
  Dog       0.0073 mm.
  Rabbit    0.0069 mm.
  Cat       0.0065 mm.
  Goat      0.0041 mm.

The coloured corpuscles of amphibia as well as of nearly all vertebrates
below mammals are biconvex and elliptical. The following are the
dimensions of some of the more common:--

  Pigeon      0.0147 mm. long by 0.0065 mm. wide.
  Frog        0.0223  "     "    0.0157  "    "
  Newt        0.0293  "     "    0.0195  "    "
  Proteus     0.0580  "     "    0.0350  "    "
  Amphiuma    0.0770  "     "    0.0460  "    "

Their number also varies as follows:--

  Man       4,000,000 to  5,000,000 per cub. mm.
  Goat      9,000,000 to 10,000,000    "     "
  Sheep    13,000,000 to 14,000,000    "     "
  Birds     1,000,000 to  4,000,000    "     "
  Fish        250,000 to  2,000,000    "     "
  Frog        500,000 per cub. mm.
  Proteus      36,000     "    "

In mammals they are apparently homogeneous in structure, have no
nucleus, but possess a thin envelope. Their specific gravity is
distinctly higher than that of the plasma (1.088), so that if clotting
has been prevented, blood on standing yields a large deposit which may
form as much as half the total volume of the blood.

_Chemical Composition._--On destruction the red corpuscles yield two
chief proteins, haemoglobin and a nucleo-protein, and a number of other
substances similar to those usually obtained on the break-down of any
cellular tissue, such for instance as lecithin, cholesterin and
inorganic salts. The most important protein is the haemoglobin. To it
the corpuscle owes its distinctive property of acting as an oxygen
carrier, for it possesses the power of combining chemically with oxygen
and of yielding up that same oxygen whenever there is a decrease in the
concentration of the oxygen in the solvent. Thus in a given solution of
haemoglobin the amount of it which is combined with oxygen depends
absolutely on the oxygen concentration. The greatest dissociation of
oxyhaemoglobin occurs as the oxygen tension falls from about 40 to 20
mm. of mercury. That the oxygen forms a definite compound with the
haemoglobin is proved by the fact that haemoglobin thoroughly saturated
with oxygen (oxyhaemoglobin) has a definite absorption spectrum showing
two bands between the D and E lines, whilst haemoglobin from which the
oxygen has been completely removed only gives one band between those
lines. In association with this, oxyhaemoglobin has a typical bright red
colour, whereas haemoglobin is dark purple. A further striking
characteristic of haemoglobin is that it contains iron in its molecule.
The amount present, though small bears a perfectly definite quantitative
relation to the amount of oxygen with which the haemoglobin is capable
of combining (two atoms of oxygen to one of iron). One gram of
haemoglobin crystals can combine with 1.34 cc. of oxygen. On destruction
with an acid or alkali, haemoglobin yields a pigment portion, haematin,
and a protein portion, globin, the latter belonging to the group of the
histones (Gr. [Greek: istos], web, tissue). In this cleavage the iron
is found in the pigment. By the use of a strong acid, it may be made to
yield iron-free pigment, the remainder of the molecule being much
further decomposed.

_Destruction and Formation._--In the performance of their work the
corpuscles gradually deteriorate. They are then destroyed, chiefly in
the liver, but whether the whole of this process is effected by the
liver alone is not decided. It is proved, however, that the destruction
of the haemoglobin is entirely effected there. It was for a long time
considered to be one of the functions of the spleen to examine the red
corpuscles and to destroy or in some way to mark those no longer fitted
for the performance of their work. It is proved that the destruction of
the haemoglobin is entirely effected in the liver, since both the main
cleavage products may be traced to this organ, which discharges the
pigmentary portion as the bile pigment, but retains the iron-protein
moiety at any rate for a time. The amount of bile pigment eliminated
during the day indicates that the destruction must be considerable, and
since the number of corpuscles does not vary there must be an equivalent
formation of new ones. This takes place in the red bone-marrow, where
special cells are provided for their continuous production. In embryonic
life their formation is effected in another way. Certain mesodermic
cells, resembling those of the connective tissue, collect masses of
haemoglobin, and from these elaborate red blood corpuscles which thus
come to lie in the fluid part of the cell. By a canalization of the
branches of these cells which unite with branches of other cells the
precursors of the blood capillaries are formed.

_White Blood Corpuscles._--These constitute the second important group
of formed elements in the blood, and number about 12,000 to 20,000 per
cubic mm. They are typical wandering cells carried to all parts of the
body by the blood stream, but often leave that stream and gain the
tissue spaces by passing through the capillary wall. They exist in many
varieties and were first classified according as, under the microscope,
they presented a granular appearance or appeared clear. The cells were
also distinguished from one another according as they possessed fine or
coarse granules. The granules are confined to the protoplasm of the
cell, and it has been shown that they differ chemically, because their
staining properties vary. Thus, some granules select an acid stain, and
the cells containing them are then designated _acidophile_ or
_eosinophile_;[1] other granules select a basic stain and are called
_basophile_, while yet others prefer a neutral stain (_neutrophile_).

In human blood the following varieties of leucocytes may be
distinguished:--

1. _The Polymorphonuclear Cell._--This possesses a nucleus of very
complicated outline and a fair amount of protoplasm filled with numbers
of fine granules which stain with eosin. They vary in size but are
usually about 0.01 mm. in diameter. They are highly amoeboid and
phagocytic, and form about 70% of the total number of leucocytes.

2. _The Coarsely Granular Eosinophile Cell._--These large cells contain
a number of well-defined granules which stain deeply with acid dyes. The
nucleus is crescentic. The cells amount to about 2% of the total number
of leucocytes, though the proportion varies considerably. They are
actively amoeboid.

3. _The Lymphocyte._--This is the smallest leucocyte, being only about
0.0065 mm. in diameter. It has a large spherical nucleus with a small
rim of clear protoplasm surrounding it. It forms from 15 to 40% of the
number of leucocytes, and is less markedly amoeboid than the other
varieties.

4. _The Hyaline_ (Gr. [Greek: hualinos], glassy, crystalline, [Greek:
ualos], glass) _cell or macrocyte_ (Gr. [Greek: makros], long or
large).--This is a cell similar to the last with a spherical, oval or
indented nucleus, but it has much more protoplasm. It constitutes about
4% of all the leucocytes and is highly amoeboid and phagocytic.

5. _The Basophile Cell_.--This possesses a spherical nucleus and the
protoplasm contains a small number of granules staining deeply with
basic dyes. It is rarely found in the blood of adults except in certain
diseases.

_Functions._--These cells act as scavengers or as destroyers of living
organisms that may have gained access to the tissue spaces. They play an
important part in the chemical processes underlying the phenomena of
immunity, and some at least are of importance in starting the process of
clotting.

They are constantly suffering destruction in the performance of their
work. Many, too, are lost to the body by their passage through the
different mucous surfaces. Their origin is still obscure in many points.
The lymphocytes are derived from lymphoid tissue, wherever it exists in
the different parts of the body. The polymorphonuclear and eosinophile
cells are derived from the bone-marrow, each by division of specific
mother cells located in that tissue. The macrocyte is believed by many
to represent a further stage in the development of the lymphocyte. Their
rate of formation may be influenced by a variety of conditions--for
instance, they are found to vary in number according to the diet and
also, to a considerable extent, in disease.

_Platelets._--The platelets or thrombocytes (Gr. [Greek: thrombos],
clot) are the third class of formed elements occurring in mammalian
blood. There are still, however, many observers who consider that
platelets are not present in the normal circulating blood, but only make
their appearance after it has been shed or otherwise injured. They are
minute lens-shaped structures, and may amount to as many as 800,000 per
cubic mm. Under certain conditions, examination has shown that they are
protoplasmic and amoeboid, and that each one contains a central body of
different staining properties from the remainder of the structure. This
has been regarded by some as a nucleus. On being brought into contact
with a foreign surface they adhere to it firmly, very rapidly passing
through a number of phases resulting ultimately in the formation of
granular debris. In shed blood they tend to collect into groups, and
during clotting, fibrin filaments may be observed to shoot out from
these clumps.

_Variations in the Blood of different Animals._--If we contrast the
blood of different animals of the vertebrate class we find striking
differences both in microscopic appearances and in chemical properties.
In the first place, the corpuscles vary in amount and in kind. Thus,
whilst in a mammal the corpuscles form 40 to 50% of the total volume of
the blood, in the lower vertebrates the volume is much less, e.g. in
frogs as low as 25% and in fishes even lower. The deficiency is chiefly
in the red corpuscles, the ratio of white to red increasing as we
examine the blood from animals lower in the scale. The corpuscles
themselves are also found to vary, especially the red ones. In the
mammal they are biconcave disks with bevelled edges, they do not contain
a nucleus so that they are not cells. In the bird they are larger,
ellipsoidal in shape and have a large nucleus in the centre of the cell.
In reptiles and amphibia the red corpuscles are also nucleated, but the
_stroma_ portion containing the haemoglobin is arranged in a thickened
annular part encircling the nucleus. When seen from the flat they are
oval in section. In fishes the corpuscles show very much the same
structure. A further very significant difference to be observed between
the bloods of different vertebrates is in the amount of haemoglobin they
contain; thus in the lower classes, fishes and amphibia, not only is the
number of red corpuscles small but the amount of haemoglobin each
corpuscle contains is relatively low. The concentration of the
haemoglobin in the corpuscles attains its maximum in the mammal and the
bird. Since the haemoglobin is practically the same from whatever animal
it is obtained and can only combine with the same amount of oxygen, the
oxygen-capacity of the blood of any vertebrate is in direct proportion
to the amount of haemoglobin it contains. Therefore we see that as we
ascend the scale in the vertebrate series the oxygen-carrying capacity
of the blood rises. This increase was a natural preliminary condition
for the progress of evolution. In order that a more active animal might
be developed the main essential was that the chemical processes of the
cell should be carried out more rapidly, and as these processes are
fundamentally oxidative, increased activity entails an increased rate
of supply of oxygen. This latter has been brought about in the animal
kingdom in two ways, first by an increase in the concentration of the
haemoglobin of the blood effected by an increase both in the number of
corpuscles and in the amount of haemoglobin contained in each, and
secondly by an increase in the rate at which the blood has been made to
pass through the tissues. In the lower vertebrates the blood pressure is
low and the haemoglobin content of the blood is low, consequently both
rate of blood-flow and oxygen-content are low. In contrast with this, in
higher vertebrates the blood pressure is high and the haemoglobin
content of the blood is high, consequently both rate of blood-flow and
oxygen-content are high. We must associate with this important step in
evolution the means employed for the more rapid absorption of oxygen and
for its increased rate of discharge to the tissues, the most important
features of which are a diminution in the size of the corpuscle and the
attainment of its peculiar shape, both resulting in the production of a
relatively enormous corpuscular surface in a unit volume of blood.

Variations are also found in the white corpuscles as well as in the red,
but these differences are not so striking and lie chiefly in unimportant
details of structure of individual cells. Enormous variations are to be
found in different species of mammals, but the cells generally conform
to the types of secreting cells or phagocytes.

The platelets also differ in the different species. In the frog, for
instance, many are spindle-shaped and contain a nucleus-like structure.
Birds' blood is stated to contain no platelets. The variations in number
of these bodies have not been satisfactorily ascertained on account of
the difficulties involved in any attempt to preserve them and to render
them visible under the microscope.

Differences are also found in the chemical composition of the plasma.
The chief variation is in the amount of protein present, which attains
its maximum concentration in birds and mammals, while in reptiles,
amphibia and fishes it is much less. The bloods of the latter two
classes are much more watery than that of the mammal. Moreover, it has
been proved that there are specific differences in the chemical nature
of the various proteins present even between different varieties of
mammals. Thus the ratio of the globulin fraction to the albumin fraction
may vary considerably, and again, one or other of the proteins may be
quite specific for the animal from which it is derived.

_Clotting._--If a sample of blood be withdrawn from an animal, within a
short time it undergoes a series of changes and becomes converted into a
stiff jelly. It is said to _clot_. If the process is watched it is seen
to start first from the surfaces where it is in contact with any foreign
body; thence it extends through the blood until the whole mass sets
solid. A short time elapses before this process commences--a time
dependent upon two chief conditions, viz. the temperature at which the
blood is kept and the extent of foreign surface with which it is brought
into contact. Thus in a mammal the blood clots most quickly at a
temperature a little above body temperature, while if the blood be
cooled quickly the clotting is considerably delayed and in the case of
some animals altogether prevented. For example, human blood kept at body
temperature clots in three minutes, while if allowed to cool to room
temperature the first sign of clotting may not make its appearance until
eight minutes after its removal from the body. The process of clotting
is also considerably accelerated by making the blood flow in a thin
stream over a wide surface. The full completion of the process occupies
some time if the blood be kept quiet, but ultimately the whole mass of
the blood becomes converted into a solid. At this stage the containing
vessel may be inverted without any drop of fluid escaping. A short time
after this stage has been reached drops of a yellow fluid appear upon
the surface and, increasing in size and number, run together to form a
layer of fluid separated from the clot. This fluid is termed _serum_;
its appearance is due to the contraction of the clot, which thus
squeezes out the fluid from between its solid constituents. Contraction
continues for about twenty-four hours, at the end of which time a large
quantity (one-third or more of the total volume) of serum may have been
separated. The clot contracts uniformly, thus preserving throughout the
same general shape as that of the vessel in which the blood has been
collected. Finally the clot swims freely in the serum which it has
expressed.

The cause of the clot formation has been found to be the precipitation
of a solid from the liquid plasma of the blood. This solid is in the
form of very minute threads and hence is termed _fibrin_. The threads
traverse the mass of blood in every possible direction, interlacing and
thus confining in their meshes all the solid elements of the blood. Soon
after their deposition they begin to contract, and as the meshwork they
form is very minute they carry with them all the corpuscles of the
blood. These with the fibrin form the shrunken clot.

If the rate at which blood clots be retarded either by cooling or by
some other process the corpuscles may have time to settle, partially or
completely, in which case distinct layers may form. The lowermost of
these contains chiefly the red corpuscles, the second layer may be grey
owing to the high percentage of leucocytes present, while a third,
marked by opalescence only, may be very rich in platelets. Above these a
clear layer of fluid may be found. This is _plasma_. The formation of
these layers depends solely upon the rate of sedimentation of these
elements, the rate depending partly upon differences in specific
gravity, and partly upon the tendency the corpuscles have to run into
clumps. Horse's blood offers one of the best instances of the clumping
of red corpuscles, and in this animal sedimentation of the red
corpuscles is most rapid.

If now such a sedimented blood is allowed to clot the process is found
to start in the middle two layers, i.e. in those containing the white
corpuscles and platelets. From these layers it spreads through the rest
of the liquid, being most retarded, however, in the red corpuscle layer,
and particularly so if the sedimentation has been very complete. Not
only does the clotting process start from the layers containing the
leucocytes and platelets, but in them it also proceeds more quickly.
These observations clearly indicate that the clotting process is
initiated by some change starting from these elements.

The object of the clotting of the blood is quite clear. It is to
prevent, as far as possible, any loss of blood when there is an injury
to an animal's vessels. The shed blood becomes converted into a solid,
and this, extending into the interior of the ruptured vessel, forms a
plug and thus arrests the bleeding. It is found that clotting is
especially accelerated whenever the blood touches a foreign tissue, for
instance, the outer layers of a torn blood-vessel wall, muscle tissue,
&c., i.e. in exactly those conditions in which rapid clotting becomes
of the greatest importance. Yet another very pregnant fact in connexion
with clotting is that if an animal be bled rapidly and the blood
collected in successive samples it is found that those collected last
clot most quickly. Hence the more excessive the haemorrhage in any case,
the greater becomes the onset of the natural cure for the bleeding, viz.
clotting.

When we begin to inquire into the nature of clotting we have to
determine in the first place whence the fibrin is derived. It has long
been known that two chemical substances at least are requisite for its
production. Thus certain fluids are known, e.g. some samples of
hydrocele or pericardial fluid, which will not clot spontaneously, but
will clot rapidly when a small quantity of serum or of an old blood-clot
is added to it. The constituent substance which is present in the
first-named fluids is known as fibrinogen, and that present in the serum
or the clot is known as fibrin-ferment or _thrombin_.

Fibrinogen is present in living blood dissolved in the plasma; it is
also present in such fluids as hydrocele or pericardial effusions,
which, though capable of clotting, do not clot spontaneously. Thrombin,
on the other hand, does not exist in living blood, but only makes its
appearance there after blood is shed. It is not yet certain what is the
nature of the final reaction between fibrinogen and thrombin. The
possibilities are, that thrombin may act--(1) by acting upon fibrinogen,
which it in some way converts into fibrin, (2) by uniting with
fibrinogen to form fibrin, or (3) by yielding part of itself to the
fibrinogen which thus becomes converted into fibrin. The experimental
study of the rate of fibrin formation, when different strengths of
thrombin solutions are allowed to act upon a fibrinogen solution, leads
us to the probable conclusion that the first of these three
possibilities is the correct one, and that thrombin therefore exerts a
true ferment action upon fibrinogen. It is known that in the reaction,
in addition to the formation of fibrin, yet another protein makes its
appearance. This is known as fibrinoglobulin, and apparently it arises
from the fibrinogen, so that the change would be one of cleavage into
fibrin and fibrinoglobulin. It is very noteworthy that although the
amount of fibrin formed during the clotting appears very bulky, yet the
actual weight is extremely small, not more than 0.4 grms. from 100 cc.
of blood.

Having ascertained that the clotting is due to the action of thrombin
upon fibrinogen, we now see that the next step to be explained is the
origin of thrombin. It has been shown that the final step in its
formation consists in the combination of another substance, termed
prothrombin, with calcium. Any soluble calcium salt is found to be
effective in this respect, and conversely the removal of soluble calcium
(e.g. by sodium oxalate) will prevent the formation of thrombin and
therefore of clotting.

In the next place it can be proved that prothrombin does not exist as
such in circulating blood, so that the problem becomes an inquiry as to
the origin of prothrombin. Experiment has shown that in its turn
prothrombin arises from yet another precursor, which is named
thrombogen, and that thrombogen also is not to be found in circulating
blood but only makes its appearance after the blood is shed. The
conversion of thrombogen into prothrombin has been proved to be due to
the action of a second ferment which has been named thrombokinase, and
this latter is again absent from living blood. Hence the question
arises, whence are derived thrombogen and thrombokinase? In the study of
this question it has been found that if the blood of birds be collected
direct from an artery through a perfectly clean cannula into a clean and
dust-free glass vessel, it does not clot spontaneously. The plasma
collected from such blood is found to contain thrombogen but no
thrombokinase. A somewhat similar plasma may be prepared from a mammal's
blood by collecting samples of blood from an artery into vessels which
have been thoroughly coated with paraffin, though in this instance
thrombogen may be absent as well as thrombokinase. If plasma containing
thrombogen but no thrombokinase be treated with a saline extract of any
tissues it will soon clot. The saline extract contains thrombokinase.
This ferment can therefore be derived from most tissues, including also
the white blood corpuscles and the platelets. Thrombogen is produced
from the leucocytes, but it is not yet certain whether it is also formed
from the platelets. The discovery of the origin of the thrombokinase
from tissue cells explains a fact that has long been known, namely, that
if in collecting blood, it is allowed to flow over cut tissues, clotting
is most markedly accelerated. The fact that birds' blood if very
carefully collected will not clot spontaneously tends to prove that
thrombokinase is not derived from the leucocytes, and makes probable its
origin from the platelets, for it is known that birds' blood apparently
does not contain platelets, at any rate in the form in which they are
found in mammalian blood. When examining the general properties of
platelets, attention was drawn to the remarkably rapid manner in which
they undergo change on coming into contact with a foreign surface. It is
apparently the actual contact which initiates these changes, changes
which are fundamentally chemical in character, resulting in the
production of thrombokinase and possibly also of thrombogen.

Thus as our knowledge at present stands the following statement gives a
recapitulated account of the changes which constitute the many phases of
clotting. When blood escapes from a blood-vessel it comes into contact
with a foreign surface, either a tissue or the damaged walls of the cut
vessel. Very speedily this contact results in the discharge of
thrombogen and thrombokinase, the former from the white blood corpuscles
and also possibly from the platelets, the latter from the platelets or
from the tissue with which the blood comes in contact. The interaction
of these two bodies next results in the formation of prothrombin, which,
combining with the calcium of any soluble lime salt present, forms
thrombin or fibrin-ferment. The last step in the change is the action of
thrombin upon fibrinogen to form fibrin, and the clot is complete.

The intrinsic value to the animal of these changes is quite plain. The
power of clotting and thus stopping haemorrhage is of essential
importance, and yet this clotting must not occur within the living
blood-vessels, or it would speedily result in death. That the tissues
should be able to accelerate the process is of very obvious value. That
the inner lining of the blood-vessels does not act as a foreign tissue
is possibly due to the extreme smoothness of their surface.

Further, an animal must always be exposed to a possible danger in the
absorption of some thrombin from a mass of clotted blood still retained
within the body, and we know that if a quantity of active ferment be
injected into the blood-stream intravascular clotting does result. Under
all usual conditions this is obviated, the protective mechanism being of
a twofold character. First, it is found that thrombin becomes converted
very quickly into an inactive modification. Serum, for instance, very
quickly loses its power of inducing clotting in fibrinogen solutions.
Secondly, the body has been found to possess the power of making a
substance, antithrombin, which can combine with thrombin forming a
substance which is quite inactive as far as clotting is concerned.
Finally, there is evidence that normal blood contains a small quantity
of this substance, antithrombin, and that under certain conditions the
amount present may be enormously increased.     (T. G. Br.)


_Pathology of the Blood._

The changes in the blood in disease are probably as numerous and varied
as the diseases which attack the body, for the blood is not only the
medium of respiration, but also of nutrition, of defence against
organisms and of many other functions, none of which can be affected
without corresponding alterations occurring in the circulating fluid.
The immense majority of these changes are, however, so subtle that they
escape detection by our present methods. But in certain directions,
notably in regard to the relations with micro-organisms, changes in the
blood-plasma can be made out, though they are not associated in all
cases with changes in the formed elements which float in it, nor with
any obvious microscopical or chemical alterations.


  Immunity.

The phenomena of immunity to the attacks of bacteria or their toxins, of
agglutinative action, of opsonic action, of the precipitin tests, and of
haemolysis, are all largely dependent on the inherent or acquired
characters of the blood serum. It is a commonplace that different people
vary in their susceptibility to the attacks of different organisms, and
different species of animals also vary greatly. This "natural immunity"
is due partly to the power possessed by the leucocytes or white blood
corpuscles of taking into their bodies and digesting or holding in an
inert state organisms which reach the blood--phagocytosis,--partly to
certain bodies in the blood serum which have a bactericidal action, or
whose presence enables the phagocytes to deal more easily with the
organisms. This natural immunity can be heightened when it exists, or an
artificial immunity can be produced in various ways. Doses of organisms
or their toxins can be injected on one or several occasions, and
provided that the lethal dose be not reached, in most cases an increased
power of resistance is produced. The organisms may be injected alive in
a virulent condition, or with their virulence lessened by heat or cold,
by antiseptics, by cultivation in the presence of oxygen, or by passage
through other animals, or they may first be killed, or their toxins
alone injected. The method chosen in each case depends on the organism
dealt with. The result of this treatment is that in the animal treated
protective substances appear in the serum, and these substances can be
transferred to the serum of another animal or of man; in other words the
active immunity of the experimental animal can be translated into the
passive immunity of man. According to the nature of the substances
injected into the former, its serum may be antitoxic, if it has been
immunized against any particular toxin, or antibacterial, if against an
organism. Familiar examples of these are, of the former diphtheria
antitoxin, of the latter anti-plague and anti-typhoid sera. An antitoxin
exerts its effects by actual combination with the respective toxin, the
combination being inert. It is probable that the ultimate source of the
antitoxin is to be found in the living cells of the tissues and that it
passes from them into the blood. The action of an antibacterial serum
depends on the presence in it of a substance known as "immune-body,"
which has a special affinity and power of combining with the bacterium
used. In order that it may exert this power it requires the presence of
a substance normally present in the serum known as "complement." The
development of these "anti-bodies," though it has been studied mainly in
connexion with bacteria and their toxins, is not confined to their
action, but can be demonstrated in regard to many other substances, such
as ferments, tissue cells, red corpuscles, &c. In some animals, for
example, the blood serum has the power of dissolving the red corpuscles
of an animal of different species; e.g. the guinea-pig's serum is
"haemolytic" to the red corpuscles of the ox. This haemolytic power
(haemolysis) can be increased by repeated injections of red corpuscles
from the other animal, in this case also, as in the bacterial case, by
the production and action of immune-body and complement. The antiserum
produced in the case of the red corpuscles may sometimes, if injected
into the first animal, whose red corpuscles were used, cause extensive
destruction of its red corpuscles, with haemoglobinuria, and sometimes a
fatal result.

Opsonic action depends on the presence of a substance, the "opsonin," in
the serum of an immunized animal, which makes the organism in question
more easily taken up by the phagocytes (leucocytes) of the blood. The
opsonin becomes fixed to the organisms. It is present to a certain
extent in normal serum, but can be greatly increased by the process of
immunization; and the "opsonic index," or relation between the number of
organisms taken up by leucocytes when treated with the serum of a
healthy person or "control," and with the serum of a person affected
with any bacterial disease and under treatment by immunization, is
regarded by some as representing the degree of immunity produced.

Agglutinative action is evidence of the presence in a serum of a
somewhat similar set of substances, known as "agglutinins." When a
portion of an antiserum is added to an emulsion of the corresponding
organism, the organisms, if they are motile, cease to move, and in any
case become gathered together into clumps. In all probability several
different bodies are concerned in this process. This reaction, in its
practical applications at least, may be regarded as a reaction of
infection rather than of immunization as ordinarily understood, for it
is found that the blood serum of patients suffering from typhoid, Malta
fever, cholera, and many other bacterial diseases, agglutinates the
corresponding organisms. This fact has come to be of great importance in
diagnosis.

The precipitin test depends on a somewhat analogous reaction. If the
serum of an animal be injected repeatedly into another animal of
different species, a "precipitin" appears in the serum of the animal
treated, which causes a precipitate when added to the serum of the first
animal. The special importance of this fact is that it can be utilized
as a method of distinguishing between human blood and that of animals,
which is often of importance in medical jurisprudence.

In this summary the facts adduced are practically all biological, and
are due to the extraordinary activity with which the study of
bacteriology (q.v.) has been pursued in recent years. The chemistry of
the blood has not hitherto been found to give information of clinical or
diagnostic importance, and nothing need here be added to what is said
above on the physiology of the blood. Enough has been said, however, to
show the extraordinary complexity of the apparently simple blood serum.

The methods at present employed in examining the blood clinically are:
the enumeration of the red and white corpuscles per cubic millimetre;
the estimation of the percentage of haemoglobin and of the specific
gravity of the blood; the microscopic examination of freshly-drawn blood
and of blood films made upon cover-glasses, fixed and stained. In
special cases the alkalinity and the rapidity of coagulation may be
ascertained, or the blood may be examined bacteriologically. We have no
universally accepted means of estimating, during life, the total amount
of blood in the body, though the method of J.S. Haldane and J. Lorrain
Smith, in which the total oxygen capacity of the blood is estimated, and
its total volume worked out from that datum, has seemed to promise
important results (_Journ. of Physiol_. vol. xxv. p. 331, 1900). After
death the amount of blood sometimes seems to be increased, and
sometimes, as in "pernicious anaemia," it is certainly diminished. But
the high counts of red corpuscles which are occasionally reported as
evidence of plethora or increase of the total blood are really only
indications of concentration of the fluid except in certain rare cases.
It is necessary, therefore, in examining blood diseases, to confine
ourselves to the study of the blood-unit, which is always taken as the
cubic millimetre, without reference to the number of units in the body.


  Anaemia.

_Anaemia_ is often used as a generic term for all blood diseases, for in
almost all of them the haemoglobin is diminished, either as a result of
diminution in the number of the red corpuscles in which it is contained,
or because the individual red corpuscles contain a smaller amount of
haemoglobin than the normal. As haemoglobin is the medium of respiratory
interchange, its diminution causes obvious symptoms, which are much more
easily appreciated by the patient than those caused by alterations in
the plasma or the leucocytes. It is customary to divide anaemias into
"primary" and "secondary": the primary are those for which no adequate
cause has as yet been discovered; the secondary, those whose cause is
known. Among the former are usually included chlorosis, pernicious
anaemia, and sometimes the leucocythaemias; among the latter, the
anaemias due to such agencies as malignant disease, malaria, chronic
metallic poisoning, chronic haemorrhage, tubercle, Bright's disease,
infective processes, intestinal parasites, &c. As our knowledge
advances, however, this distinction will probably be given up, for the
causes of several of the primary anaemias have been discovered. For
example, the anaemia due to _bothriocephalus_, an intestinal parasite,
is clinically indistinguishable from the other forms of pernicious
anaemia with which it used to be included, and leucocythaemia has been
declared by Löwit, though probably erroneously, to be due to a blood
parasite closely related to that of malaria. In all these conditions
there is a considerable similarity in the symptoms produced and in the
pathological anatomy. The general symptoms are pallor of the skin and
mucous membranes, weakness and lassitude, shortness of breath,
palpitation, a tendency to fainting, and usually also gastro-intestinal
disturbance, headache and neuralgia. The heart is often dilated, and on
auscultation the systolic murmurs associated with that condition are
heard. In fatal cases the internal organs are found to be pale, and very
often their cells contain an excessive amount of fat. In many anaemias
there is a special tendency to haemorrhage. Most of the above symptoms
and organic changes are directly due to diminished respiratory
interchange from the loss of haemoglobin, and to its effect on the
various organs involved. The diagnosis depends ultimately in all cases
upon the examination of the blood.

Though the relative proportions of the leucocytes are probably
continually undergoing change even in health, especially as the result
of taking food, the number of red corpuscles remains much more constant.
Through the agency of some unknown mechanism, the supply of fresh red
corpuscles from the bone-marrow keeps pace with the destruction of
effete corpuscles, and in health each corpuscle contains a definite and
constant amount of haemoglobin. The disturbance of this arrangement in
anaemia may be due to loss or to increased destruction of corpuscles, to
the supply of a smaller number of new ones, to a diminution of the
amount of haemoglobin in the individual new corpuscles, or to a
combination of these causes. It is most easy to illustrate this by
describing what happens after a haemorrhage. If this is small, the loss
is replaced by the fully-formed corpuscles held in reserve in the
marrow, and there is no disturbance. If it is larger, the amount of
fluid lost is first made up by fluid drawn from the tissues, so that the
number of corpuscles is apparently diminished by dilution of the blood;
the erythroblasts, or formative red corpuscles, of the bone-marrow are
stimulated to proliferation, and new corpuscles are quickly thrown into
the circulation. These are apt, however, to be small and to contain a
subnormal amount of haemoglobin, and it is only after some time that
they are destroyed and their place taken by normal corpuscles. If the
loss has been very great, nucleated red corpuscles may even be carried
into the blood-stream. The blood possesses a great power of recovery, if
time be given it, because the organ (bone-marrow) which forms so many of
its elements never, in health, works at high pressure. Only a part of
the marrow, the so-called red marrow, is normally occupied by
erythroblastic tissue, the rest of the medullary cavity of the bones
being taken up by fat. If any long-continued demand for red corpuscles
is made, the fat is absorbed, and its place gradually taken by red
marrow. This compensatory change is found in all chronic anaemias, no
matter what their cause may be, except in some rare cases in which the
marrow does not react.

It is often very difficult, especially in "secondary" anaemias, to say
which of the above processes is mainly at work. In acute anaemias, such
as those associated with septicaemia, there is no doubt that blood
destruction plays the principal part. But if the cause of anaemia is a
chronic one, a gastric cancer, for instance, though there may possibly
be an increased amount of destruction of corpuscles in some cases, and
though there is often loss by haemorrhage, the cancer interferes with
nutrition, the blood is impoverished and does not nourish the
erythroblasts in the marrow sufficiently, and the new corpuscles which
are turned out are few and poor in haemoglobin. In chronic anaemias,
regeneration always goes on side by side with destruction, and it is
important to remember that the state of the blood in these conditions
gives the measure, not of the amount of destruction which is taking
place so much as of the amount of regeneration of which the organism is
capable. The evidence of destruction has often to be sought for in other
organs, or in secretions or excretions.

Of the so-called primary anaemias the most common is _chlorosis_, an
anaemia which occurs only in the female sex, between the ages of fifteen
and twenty-five as a rule. Its symptoms are those caused by a diminution
of haemoglobin, and though it is never directly fatal, and is extremely
amenable to treatment with iron preparations, its subjects very
frequently suffer from relapses at varying intervals after the first
attack. Its causation is probably complex. Bad hygienic conditions,
over-fatigue, want of proper food, especially of the iron-containing
proteids of meat, the strain put upon the blood and blood-forming organs
by the accession of puberty and the occurrence of menstruation, all
probably play a part in it. It has also been suggested that internal
secretions may be concerned in stimulating the bone-marrow, and that in
the female sex in particular the genital organs may act in this way.
Imperfect assumption of function by these organs at puberty, caused
perhaps by some of the above-mentioned conditions, might lead to
sluggishness in the bone-marrow, and to the supply to the blood of the
poorly-formed corpuscles deficient in haemoglobin which are
characteristic of the disease. Chlorosis is the type of anaemias from
imperfect blood-formation. Lorrain Smith has produced evidence to show
that the total amount of haemoglobin in the body is not diminished in
this disease, but that the blood-plasma is greatly increased in amount,
so that the haemoglobin is diluted and the amount in each blood-unit
greatly lessened.

_Pernicious anaemia_ is a rarer disease than chlorosis, occurs usually
later in life, and is distributed nearly equally between the two sexes.
But it is of great importance because of its almost uniformly fatal
termination, though its downward course is generally broken by
temporary improvement on one or more occasions. The symptoms are those
of a progressive anaemia, in which gastro-intestinal disturbance usually
plays a large part, and nervous symptoms are common, and they become at
last much more severe than those of any secondary anaemia. The patient
may die in the first attack, but more usually, when things seem to be at
their worst, improvement sets in, either spontaneously or as the result
of treatment, and the patient slowly regains apparent health. This
remission may be followed by a relapse, that again by a remission, and
so on, but as a rule the disease is fatal within, at the outside, two or
three years.

The prime cause of the disease is not known. It seems probable indeed
that the causal factors are numerous. Severe malarial infection,
syphilis, pregnancy, chronic gastro-intestinal disease, chronic
gas-poisoning, are all, in different cases, known to have been causally
associated with it, and it is probable that a congenital weakness of the
bone-marrow has often to do with its production, as in many cases a
family or hereditary history of the disease can be obtained. The
condition is now regarded as a chronic toxaemia, partly because of the
clinical symptoms and pathological appearances, partly because analogous
conditions can be produced experimentally by such poisons as saponin and
toluylendiamin, and partly because of the facts of _bothriocephalus_
anaemia. The site of production of the toxin, or toxins, for it is
possible that several may have the same effect on the blood, is possibly
not always the same, but must often be the alimentary canal, as
_bothriocephalus_ anaemia proves. Not all persons affected with this
intestinal tapeworm contract the disease, but only those in whose
intestines the worm is dead and decomposing or sometimes only "sick."
The expulsion of the worm puts an end to the absorption of the toxin and
the patients recover. No adequate explanation of the formation of the
toxin in the immense majority of the cases, in which there is no
tapeworm, has yet been given. It is certain that no organism as yet
known is concerned.

This toxaemia affects the marrow and through it the blood, the
gastro-intestinal apparatus and the nervous system, especially the
spinal cord, in different proportions in different cases. The effect
upon the marrow is to alter the type of red corpuscle formation, causing
a reversion to the embryonic condition, in which the nucleated red
corpuscles are large (megaloblasts), and the corpuscles in the blood
formed from them are also large, are apparently ill suited to the needs
of the adult, and easily break down, as the deposits of iron in the
liver, spleen, kidneys and marrow prove. Whether this reversion is due
to an exhaustion of the normal process or to an inhibition of it is not
definitely known. The result is that the circulating red corpuscles are
enormously diminished; it is usual to find 1,000,000 or less in the
cubic millimetre instead of the normal 5,000,000. Though the haemoglobin
is of course absolutely diminished, it is always, in severe cases,
present in relatively higher percentage than the red corpuscles, because
the average red corpuscle is larger and contains more haemoglobin than
the normal. The large nucleated red corpuscles (megaloblasts) with which
the marrow is crowded, often appear in the blood.

Other anaemias, such as those known as _lymphadenoma_, or Hodgkin's
disease, _splenic anaemia_, _chloroma_, _leucanaemia_ and the _anaemia
pseudo-leucaemica_ of children, need not be described here, as they are
either rare or their occurrence or nature is still too much under
discussion.


  Leucocytosis.

The number and nature of the leucocytes in the blood bears no constant
or necessary relation to the number or condition of the red corpuscles,
and their variations depend on entirely different conditions. The number
in the cubic millimetre is usually about 7000, but may vary in health
from 5000 to 10,000. A diminution in their number is known as
_leucopenia_, and is found in starvation, in some infective diseases, as
for example in typhoid fever, in malaria and Malta fever, and in
pernicious anaemia. An increase is very much more frequent, and is known
as _leucocytosis_, though in this term is usually connoted a relative
increase in the proportion of the polymorphonuclear neutrophile
leucocytes. Leucocytosis occurs under a great variety of conditions,
normally to a slight extent during digestion, during pregnancy, and
after violent exercise, and abnormally after haemorrhage, in the course
of inflammations and many infective diseases, in malignant disease, in
such toxic states as uraemia, and after the ingestion of nuclein and
other substances. It does not occur in some infective diseases, the most
important of which are typhoid fever, malaria, influenza, measles and
uncomplicated tuberculosis. In all cases where it is sufficiently severe
and long continued, the reserve space in the bone-marrow is filled up by
the active proliferation of the leucocytes normally found there, and is
used as a nursery for the leucocytes required in the blood. In many
cases leucocytosis is known to be associated with the defence of the
organism from injurious influences, and its amount depends on the
relation between the severity of the attack and the power of resistance.
There may be an increase in the proportions present in the blood of
lymphocytes (_lymphocytosis_), and of eosinophile cells
(_eosinophilia_). This latter change is associated specially with some
forms of asthma, with certain skin diseases, and with the presence of
animal parasites in the body, such as ankylostoma and filaria.


  Leucaemia.

The disease in which the number of leucocytes in the blood is greatest
is _leucocythaemia_ or leucaemia. There are two main forms of this
disease, in both of which there are anaemia, enlargement of the spleen
and lymphatic glands, or of either of them, leucocytic hypertrophy of
the bone-marrow, and deposits of leucocytes in the liver, kidney and
other organs. The difference lies in the kind of leucocytes present in
excess in the blood, blood-forming organs and deposits in the tissues.
In the one form these are lymphocytes, which are found in health mainly
in the marrow, the blood itself, the lymph glands and in the lymphatic
tissue round the alimentary canal; in the other they are the kinds of
leucocytes normally found in the bone-marrow-myelocytes, neutrophile,
basophile and eosinophile, and polymorphonuclear cells, also
neutrophile, basophile and eosinophile. The clinical course of the two
forms may differ. The first, known as lymphatic leucaemia or
_lymphaemia_, may be acute, and prove fatal in a few weeks or even days
with rapidly advancing anaemia, or may be chronic and last for one or
two years or longer. The second, known as spleno-myelogenous leucaemia
or _myelaemia_, is almost always chronic, and may last for several
years. Recovery does not take place, though remissions may occur. The
use of the X-rays has been found to influence the course of this disease
very favourably. The most recent view of the pathology of the disease is
that it is due to an overgrowth of the bone-marrow leucocytes, analogous
in some respects to tumour growth and caused by the removal of some
controlling mechanism rather than by stimulation. The anaemia
accompanying the disease is due partly to the leucocyte overgrowth,
which takes up the space in the marrow belonging of right to red
corpuscle formation and interferes with it. (G. L. G.)


FOOTNOTE:

  [1] The suffix _-phile_, Greek [Greek: philein], to love, prefer, is
    in scientific terminology frequently applied to substances that
    exhibit such preference for particular stains or reagents, the names
    of which form the first part of the word.




BLOOD-LETTING. There are certain morbid conditions when a patient may
obtain marked relief from the abstraction of a certain amount of blood,
from three or four ounces up to twenty or even thirty in extreme cases.
This may be effected by venesection, or the application of leeches, or
more rarely by cupping (q.v.). Unfortunately, in years gone by,
blood-letting was used to such excess, as a cure for almost every known
disease, that public opinion is now extremely opposed to it. In certain
pathological conditions, however, it brings relief and saves life when
no other means would act with sufficient promptness to take its place.

Venesection, in which the blood is usually withdrawn from the
median-basilic vein of the arm, has the disadvantage that it can only be
performed by the medical man, and that the patient's friends are
generally very much opposed to the idea. But the public are not nearly
so prejudiced against the use of leeches; and as the nurse in charge can
be instructed to use these if occasion arises, this is the form of
blood-letting usually practised to-day. From one to twelve leeches are
applied at the time, the average leech withdrawing some two drachms of
blood. Should this prove insufficient, as much again can be abstracted
by the immediate application of hot fomentations to the wounds. They
should always be applied over some bony prominence, that pressure may be
effectively used to stop the haemorrhage afterwards. They should never
be placed over superficial veins, or where there is much loose
subcutaneous tissue. If, as is often the case, there is any difficulty
in making them bite, the skin should be pricked at the desired spot with
the point of a sterilized needle, and the leech will then attach itself
without further trouble. Also they must be left to fall off of their own
accord, the nurse never dragging them forcibly off. If cold and pressure
fail to stop the subsequent haemorrhage, a little powdered alum or other
styptic may be inserted in the wound. The following are the main
indications for their use, though in some cases they are better replaced
by venesection, (1) For stagnation of blood on the right side of the
heart with constant dyspnoea, cyanosis, &c. In acute lung disease, the
sudden obstruction to the passage of blood through the lungs throws such
an increased strain on the right ventricle that it may dilate to the
verge of paralysis; but by lessening the total volume of blood, the
heart's work is lightened for a time, and the danger at the moment tided
over. This is a condition frequently met with in the early stages of
acute pneumonia, pleurisy and bronchitis, when the obstruction is in the
lungs, the heart being normal. But the same result is also met with as a
result of failure of compensation with back pressure in certain forms of
heart disease (q.v.). (2) To lower arterial tension. In the early stages
of cerebral haemorrhage (before coma has supervened), when the heart is
working vigorously and the tension of the pulse is high, a timely
venesection may lead to arrest of the haemorrhage by lowering the blood
pressure and so giving the blood in the ruptured vessel an opportunity
to coagulate. (3) In various convulsive attacks, as in acute uraemia.




BLOOD-MONEY, colloquially, the reward for betraying a criminal to
justice. More strictly it is used of the money-penalty paid in old days
by a murderer to the kinsfolk of his victim. These fines completely
protected the offender from the vengeance of the injured family. The
system was common among the Scandinavian and Teutonic races previous to
the introduction of Christianity, and a scale of payments, graduated
according to the heinousness of the crime, was fixed by laws, which
further settled who could exact the blood-money, and who were entitled
to share it. Homicide was not the only crime thus expiable: blood-money
could be exacted for all crimes of violence. Some acts, such as killing
any one in a church or while asleep, or within the precincts of the
royal palace, were "bot-less"; and the death penalty was inflicted. Such
a criminal was outlawed, and his enemies could kill him wherever they
found him.




BLOODSTONE, the popular name of the mineral heliotrope, which is a
variety of dark green chalcedony or plasma, with bright red spots,
splashes and streaks. The green colour is due to a chloritic mineral;
the red to haematite. Some coarse kinds are opaque, resembling in this
respect jasper, and some writers have sought to restrict the name
"bloodstone" to green jasper, with red markings, thus making heliotrope
a translucent and bloodstone an opaque stone, but, though convenient,
such a distinction is not generally recognized. A good deal of
bloodstone comes from India, where it occurs in the Deccan traps, and is
cut and polished at Cambay. The stone is used for seals, knife-handles
and various trivial ornaments. Bloodstone is not very widely
distributed, but is found in the basaltic rocks of the Isle of Rum in
the west of Scotland, and in a few other localities. Haematite (Gr.
[Greek: aima], blood), or native peroxide of iron, is also sometimes
called "bloodstone."




BLOOM (from A.S. _blôma_, a flower), the blossom of flowering plants, or
the powdery film on the skin of fresh-picked fruit; hence applied to the
surface of newly-minted coins or to a cloudy appearance on the varnish
of painting due to moisture; also, in metallurgy, a term used of the
rough billets of iron and steel, which have undergone a preliminary
hammering or rolling, and are ready for further working.




BLOOMER, AMELIA JENKS (1818-1894), American dress-reformer and women's
rights advocate, was born at Homer, New York, on the 27th of May 1818.
After her marriage in 1840 she established a periodical called _The
Lily_, which had some success. In 1849 she took up the idea--previously
originated by Mrs Elizabeth Smith Miller--of a reform in woman's dress,
and the wearing of a short skirt, with loose trousers, gathered round
the ankles. The name of "bloomers" gradually became popularly attached
to any divided-skirt or knickerbocker dress for women. Until her death
on the 30th of December 1894 Mrs Bloomer took a prominent part in the
temperance campaign and in that for woman's suffrage.




BLOOMFIELD, MAURICE (1855-   ), American Sanskrit scholar, was born on
the 23rd of February 1855, in Bielitz, Austrian Silesia. He went to the
United States in 1867, and ten years later graduated from Furman
University, Greenville, South Carolina. He then studied Sanskrit at
Yale, under W.D. Whitney, and at Johns Hopkins, to which university he
returned as associate professor in 1881 after a stay of two years in
Berlin and Leipzig, and soon afterwards was promoted professor of
Sanskrit and comparative philology. His papers in the _American Journal
of Philology_ number a few in comparative linguistics, such as those on
assimilation and adaptation in congeneric classes of words, and many
valuable "Contributions to the Interpretation of the Vedas," and he is
best known as a student of the Vedas. He translated, for Max-Müller's
_Sacred Books of the East_, the Hymns of the Atharva-Veda (1897);
contributed to the Bühler-Kielhorn _Grundriss der indo-arischen
Philologie und Altertumskunde_ the section "The Atharva-Veda and the
Gopatha Brahmana" (1899); was first to edit the Kauçika-Sutra (1890),
and in 1907 published, in the Harvard Oriental series, _A Vedic
Concordance_. In 1905 he published _Cerberus, the Dog of Hades_, a study
in comparative mythology.




BLOOMFIELD, ROBERT (1766-1823), English poet, was born of humble parents
at the village of Honington, Suffolk, on the 3rd of December 1766. He
was apprenticed at the age of eleven to a farmer, but he was too small
and frail for field labour, and four years later he came to London to
work for a shoemaker. The poem that made his reputation, _The Farmer's
Boy_, was written in a garret in Bell Alley. The manuscript, declined by
several publishers, fell into the hands of Capell Lofft, who arranged
for its publication with woodcuts by Bewick in 1800. The success of the
poem was remarkable, over 25,000 copies being sold in the next two
years. His reputation was increased by the appearance of his _Rural
Tales_ (1802), _News from the Farm_ (1804), _Wild Flowers_ (1806) and
_The Banks of the Wye_ (1811). Influential friends attempted to provide
for Bloomfield, but ill-health and possibly faults of temperament
prevented the success of these efforts, and the poet died in poverty at
Shefford, Bedfordshire, on the 19th of August 1823. His _Remains in
Poetry and Verse_ appeared in 1824.




BLOOMFIELD, a town of Essex county, New Jersey, U.S.A., about 12 m. W.
of New York, and directly adjoining the city of Newark on the N. Pop.
(1900) 9668, of whom 2267 were foreign-born; (1905, state census)
11,668; (1910), 15,070. Area, 5.42 sq. m. Bloomfield is served by the
Erie, and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railways, and by several
electric lines connecting with Newark, Montclair, Orange, East Orange
and other neighbouring places. It is a residential suburb of Newark and
New York, is the seat of a German theological school (Presbyterian,
1869) and has the Jarvie Memorial library (1902). There is a Central
Green, and in 1908 land was acquired for another park. Among the town's
manufactures are silk and woollen goods, paper, electric elevators,
electric lamps, rubber goods, safety pins, hats, cream separators,
brushes and novelties. The value of the town's factory products
increased from $3,370,924 in 1900 to $4,645,483 in 1905, or 37.8%. First
settled about 1670-1675 by the Dutch and by New Englanders from the
Newark colony, Bloomfield was long a part of Newark, the principal
settlement at first being known as Wardsesson. In 1796 it was named
Bloomfield in honour of General Joseph Bloomfield (1753-1823), who
served (1775-1778) in the War of American Independence, reaching the
rank of major, was governor of New Jersey in 1801-1802 and 1803-1812,
brigadier-general in the United States army during the War of 1812, and
a Democratic representative in Congress from 1817 to 1821. The township
of Bloomfield was incorporated in 1812. From it were subsequently set
off Belleville (1839), Montclair (1868) and Glen Ridge (1895).




BLOOMINGTON, a city and the county-seat of McLean county, Illinois,
U.S.A., in the central part of the state, about 125 m. S.W. of Chicago.
Pop. (1890) 20,484; (1900) 23,286, of whom 3611 were foreign-born, there
being a large German element; (1910 census) 25,768. The city is served
by the Chicago & Alton, the Illinois Central, the Cleveland, Chicago,
Cincinnati & St Louis, and the Lake Erie & Western railways, and by
electric inter-urban lines. Bloomington is the seat of the Illinois
Wesleyan University (Methodist Episcopal, co-educational, founded in
1850), which comprises a college of liberal arts, an academy, a college
of law, a college of music and a school of oratory, and in 1907 had 1350
students. In the town of NORMAL (pop. in 1900, 3795), 2 m. north of
Bloomington, are the Illinois State Normal University (opened at
Bloomington in 1857 and removed to its present site in 1860), one of the
first normal schools in the Middle West, and the state soldiers'
orphans' home (1869). Bloomington has a public library, and Franklin and
Miller parks; among its principal buildings are the court house, built
of marble, and the Y.M.C.A. building. Among the manufacturing
establishments are foundries and machine shops, including the large
shops of the Chicago & Alton railway, slaughtering and meat-packing
establishments, flour and grist mills, printing and publishing
establishments, a caramel factory and lumber factories. The value of the
city's factory products increased from $3,011,899 in 1900 to $5,777,000
in 1905, or 91.8%. There are valuable coal mines in and near the city,
and the city is situated in a fine farming region. Bloomington derives
its name from Blooming Grove, a small forest which was crossed by the
trails leading from the Galena lead mines to Southern Illinois, from
Lake Michigan to St Louis, and from the Eastern to the far Western
states. The first settlement was made in 1822, but the town was not
formally founded until 1831, when it became the county-seat of McLean
county. The first city charter was obtained in 1850, and in 1857 the
public school system was established. In 1856 Bloomington was the
meeting place of a state convention called by the Illinois editors who
were opposed to the Kansas-Nebraska Bill (see DECATUR). This was the
first convention of the Republican party in Illinois; among the
delegates were Abraham Lincoln, Richard Yates, John M. Palmer and Owen
Lovejoy. The city has been the residence of a number of prominent men,
including David Davis (1815-1886), an associate justice of the United
States Supreme Court in 1862-1877, a member of the United States Senate
in 1877-1883, and president _pro tempore_ of the Senate in 1881-1883;
Governor John M. Hamilton (1847-1905), Governor Joseph W. Fifer (b.
1840); and Adlai Ewing Stevenson (b. 1835), a Democratic representative
in Congress in 1875-1877 and 1879-1881, and vice-president of the United
States in 1893-1897. Bloomington's prosperity increased after 1867, when
coal was first successfully mined in the vicinity.

  In the _Transactions_ of the Illinois State Historical Society for
  1905 may be found a paper, "The Bloomington Convention of 1856 and
  Those Who Participated in it."




BLOOMINGTON, a city and the county-seat of Monroe county, Indiana,
U.S.A., about 45 m. S. by W. of Indianapolis. Pop. (1890) 4018; (1900)
6460, including 396 negroes; (1910) 8838. It is served by the Chicago,
Indianapolis & Louisville and the Indianapolis Southern (Illinois
Central) railways. Bloomington is the seat of the Indiana University
(co-educational since 1868), established as a state seminary in 1820,
and as Indiana College in 1828, and chartered as the State university in
1838; in 1907-1908 it had 80 instructors, 2051 students, and a library
of 65,000 volumes; its school of law was established in 1842, suspended
in 1877 and re-established in 1889; its school of medicine was
established in 1903; but most of the medical course is given in
Indianapolis; a graduate school was organized in 1904; and a summer
school (or summer term of eleven weeks) was first held in 1905. Dr
David Starr Jordan was the first president of the university in
1885-1891, when it was thoroughly reorganized and its curriculum put on
the basis of major subjects and departments. The university's biological
station is on Winona Lake, Kosciusko county. Among the manufactures of
Bloomington are furniture and wooden ware. There are valuable limestone
quarries in the vicinity. The city was first settled about 1818.




BLOOMSBURG, a town and the county-seat of Columbia county, Pennsylvania,
U.S.A., on Fishing Creek, 2 m. from its confluence with the Susquehanna,
and about 40 m. S.W. of Wilkes-Barre. Pop. (1890) 4635; (1900) 6170 (213
foreign-born); (1910) 7413. It is served by the Delaware, Lackawanna &
Western, the Philadelphia & Reading, and the Bloomsburg & Sullivan and
the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg & Berwick railways (the last two only 30 m.
and 39 m. long respectively); and is connected with Berwick, Catawissa
and Danville by electric lines. The town is built on a bluff commanding
extensive views. Among the manufactures of Bloomsburg are railway cars,
carriages, silk and woollen goods, furniture, carpets, wire-drawing
machines and gun carriages. Iron ore was formerly obtained from the
neighbouring hills. The town is the seat of a state normal school,
established as such in 1869. Bloomsburg was laid out as a town in 1802,
became the county-seat in 1846, and was incorporated in 1870.




BLOUNT, CHARLES (1654-1693), English author, was born at Upper Holloway
on the 27th of April 1654. His father, Sir Henry Blount (1602-1682), was
the author of a _Voyage to the Levant_, describing his own travels. He
gave his son a careful education, and is said to have helped him in his
_Anima Mundi; or An Historical Narration of the Opinions of the Antients
concerning Man's Soul after his Life, according to unenlightened Nature_
(1679), which gave great offence by the sceptical views expressed in it.
It was suppressed by order of the bishop of London, and even burnt by
some over-zealous official, but a re-issue was permitted. Blount was an
admirer of Hobbes, and published his "Last Sayings" (1679), a pamphlet
consisting of extracts from _The Leviathan. Great is Diana of the
Ephesians, or the Original of Idolatry, together with the Political
Institution of the Gentiles' Sacrifices_ (1680) attracted severe
criticism on the ground that in deprecating the evils of priestcraft
Blount was attacking Christianity itself. His best-known book, _The Two
First Books of Philostratus concerning the Life of Apollonius
Tyaneus_ ... (1680), is said to have been prohibited in 1693, chiefly on
account of the notes, which are stated by Bayle (note, _s.v.
Apollonius_) to have been taken mainly from a MS. of Lord Herbert of
Cherbury. Blount contributed materially to the removal of the
restrictions on the freedom of the press, with two pamphlets (1693) by
"Philopatris," mainly derived from Milton's _Areopagitica_. He also laid
a successful trap for the censor, Edmund Bohun. Under the name of
"Junius Brutus" he wrote a pamphlet entitled "King William and Queen
Mary Conquerors." The title-page set forth the theory of the justice of
title by conquest, which Blount knew to be agreeable to Bohun. It was
duly licensed, but was ordered by the House of Commons to be burnt by
the common hangman, as being diametrically opposed to the attitude of
William's government on the subject. These proceedings showed the
futility of the censorship, and hastened its overthrow.

Blount had fallen in love with his deceased wife's sister, and, in
despair of overcoming her scruples as to the legality of such a
marriage, shot himself in the head. He survived for some time, refusing
help except from his sister-in-law. Alexander Pope asserted (_Epilogue
to the Satires_, Note, i. 124) that he wounded himself in the arm,
pretending to kill himself, and that the result was fatal contrary to
his expectations. He died in August 1693.

  Shortly before his death a collection of his pamphlets and private
  papers was printed with a preface by Charles Gildon, under the title
  of the _Oracles of Reason_. His _Miscellaneous Works_ (1695) is a
  fuller edition by the same editor.




BLOUNT (or BLUNT), EDWARD (b. 1565?), the printer, in conjunction with
Isaac Jaggard, of _Mr William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories and
Tragedies. Published according to the true Originall Copies_ (_1623_),
usually known as the first folio of Shakespeare. It was produced under
the direction of John Heming (d. 1630) and Henry Condell (d. 1627), both
of whom had been Shakespeare's colleagues at the Globe theatre, but as
Blount combined the functions of printer and editor on other occasions,
it is fair to conjecture that he to some extent edited the first folio.
The Stationers' _Register_ states that he was the son of Ralph Blount or
Blunt, merchant tailor of London, and apprenticed himself in 1578 for
ten years to William Ponsonby, a stationer. He became a freeman of the
Stationers' Company in 1588. Among the most important of his
publications are Giovanni Florio's Italian-English dictionary and his
translation of Montaigne, Marlowe's _Hero and Leander_, and the _Sixe
Court Comedies_ of John Lyly. He himself translated _Ars Aulica, or the
Courtier's Arte_ (1607) from the Italian of Lorenzo Ducci, and
_Christian Policie_ (1632) from the Spanish of Juan de Santa Maria.




BLOUNT, THOMAS (1618-1679), English antiquarian, was the son of one
Myles Blount, of Orleton in Herefordshire. He was born at Bordesley,
Worcestershire. Few details of his life are known. It appears that he
was called to the bar at the Inner Temple, but, being a zealous Roman
Catholic, his religion interfered considerably with the practice of his
profession. Retiring to his estate at Orleton, he devoted himself to the
study of the law as an amateur, and also read widely in other branches
of knowledge. He died at Orleton on the 26th of December 1679. His
principal works are _Glossographia; or, a dictionary interpreting the
hard words of whatsoever language, now used in our refined English
tongue_ (1656, reprinted in 1707), which went through several editions
and remains most amusing and instructive reading; _Nomolexicon: a law
dictionary interpreting such difficult and, obscure words and terms as
are found either in our common or statute, ancient or modern lawes_
(1670; third edition, with additions by W. Nelson, 1717); and _Fragmenta
Antiquitatis: Ancient Tenures of land, and jocular customs of some
mannors_ (1679; enlarged by J. Beckwith and republished, with additions
by H.M. Beckwith, in 1815; again revised and enlarged by W.C. Hazlitt,
1874). Blount's _Boscobel_ (1651), giving an account of Charles II.'s
preservation after Worcester, with the addition of the king's own
account dictated to Pepys, has been edited with a bibliography by C.G.
Thomas (1894).




BLOUNT, SIR THOMAS POPE (1649-1697), English author, eldest son of Sir
Henry Blount and brother of Charles Blount (q.v.), was born at Upper
Holloway on the 12th of September 1649. He succeeded to the estate of
Tittenhanger on his mother's death in 1678, and in the following year
was created a baronet. He represented the borough of St Albans in the
two last parliaments of Charles II. and was knight of the shire from the
revolution till his death. He married Jane, daughter of Sir Henry
Caesar, by whom he had five sons and nine daughters. He died at
Tittenhanger on the 30th of June 1697. His _Censura celebrorum authorum
sive tractatus in quo varia virorum doctorum de clarissimis cujusque
seculi scriptoribus judicia traduntur_ (1690) was originally compiled
for Blount's own use, and is a dictionary in chronological order of what
various eminent writers have said about one another. This necessarily
involved enormous labour in Blount's time. It was published at Geneva in
1694 with all the quotations from modern languages translated into
Latin, and again in 1710. His other works are _A Natural History,
containing many not common observations extracted out of the best modern
writers_ (1693), _De re poetica, or remarks upon Poetry, with Characters
and Censures of the most considerable Poets_ ... (1694), and _Essays on
Several Occasions_ (1692). It is on this last work that his claims to be
regarded as an original writer rest. The essays deal with the perversion
of learning, a comparison between the ancients and the moderns (to the
advantage of the latter), the education of children, and kindred topics.
In the third edition (1697) he added an eighth essay, on religion, in
which he deprecated the multiplication of ceremonies. He displays
throughout a hatred of pedantry and convention, which makes his book
still interesting.

  See A. Kippis, _Biographia Britannica_ (1780), vol. ii. For an account
  of Blount's family see Robert Clutterbuck. _History and Antiquities of
  the County of Hertford_ (1815), vol. i. pp. 207-212.




BLOUNT, WILLIAM (1749-1800), American politician, was born in Bertie
county, North Carolina, on the 26th of March 1749. He was a member of
the Continental Congress in 1783-1784 and again in 1786-1787, of the
constitutional convention at Philadelphia in 1787, and of the state
convention which ratified the Federal constitution for North Carolina in
1789. From 1790 until 1796 he was, by President Washington's
appointment, governor of the "Territory South of the Ohio River,"
created out of land ceded to the national government by North Carolina
in 1789. He was also during this period the superintendent of Indian
affairs for this part of the country. In 1791 he laid out Knoxville
(Tennessee) as the seat of government. He presided over the
constitutional convention of Tennessee in 1796, and, on the state being
admitted to the Union, became one of its first representatives in the
United States Senate. In 1797 his connexion became known with a scheme,
since called "Blount's Conspiracy," which provided for the co-operation
of the American frontiersmen, assisted by Indians, and an English force,
in the seizure on behalf of Great Britain of the Floridas and Louisiana,
then owned by Spain, with which power England was then at war. As this
scheme, if carried out, involved the corrupting of two officials of the
United States, an Indian agent and an interpreter, a breach of the
neutrality of the United States, and the breach of Article V. of the
treaty of San Lorenzo el Real (signed on the 27th of October 1795)
between the United States and Spain, by which each power agreed not to
incite the Indians to attack the other, Blount was impeached by the
House of Representatives on the 7th of July 1797, and on the following
day was formally expelled from the Senate for "having been guilty of
high misdemeanor, entirely inconsistent with his public trust and duty
as a senator." On the 29th of January 1798 articles of impeachment were
adopted by the House of Representatives. On the 14th of January 1799,
however, the Senate, sitting as a court of impeachment, decided that it
had no jurisdiction, Blount not then being a member of the Senate, and,
in the Senate's opinion, not having been, even as a member, a civil
officer of the United States, within the meaning of the constitution.
The case is significant as being the first case of impeachment brought
before the United States Senate. "In a legal point of view, all that the
case decides is that a senator of the United States who has been
expelled from his seat is not after such expulsion subject to
impeachment" (Francis Wharton, _State Trials_). In effect, however, it
also decided that a member of Congress was not in the meaning of the
constitution a civil officer of the United States and therefore could
not be impeached. The "conspiracy" was disavowed by the British
government, which, however, seems to have secretly favoured it. Blount
was enthusiastically supported by his constituents, and upon his return
to Tennessee was made a member and the presiding officer of the state
senate. He died at Knoxville on the 21st of March 1800.

  For a defence of Blount, see General Marcus J. Wright's _Account of
  the Life and Services of William Blount_ (Washington, D.C., 1884).




BLOUSE, a word (taken from the French) used for any loosely fitting
bodice belted at the waist. In France it meant originally the loose
upper garment of linen or cotton, generally blue, worn by French workmen
to preserve their clothing, and, by transference, the workman himself.




BLOW, JOHN (1648-1708), English musical composer, was born in 1648,
probably at North Collingham in Nottinghamshire. He became a chorister
of the chapel royal, and distinguished himself by his proficiency in
music; he composed several anthems at an unusually early age, including
_Lord, Thou hast been our refuge; Lord, rebuke me not_; and the
so-called "club anthem," _I will always give thanks_, the last in
collaboration with Pelham Humphrey and William Turner, either in honour
of a victory over the Dutch in 1665, or--more probably--simply to
commemorate the friendly intercourse of the three choristers. To this
time also belongs the composition of a two-part setting of Herrick's
_Goe, perjur'd man_, written at the request of Charles II. to imitate
Carissimi's _Dite, o cieli_. In 1669 Blow became organist of Westminster
Abbey. In 1673 he was made a gentleman of the chapel royal, and in the
September of this year he was married to Elizabeth Braddock, who died in
childbirth ten years later. Blow, who by the year 1678 was a doctor of
music, was named in 1685 one of the private musicians of James II.
Between 1680 and 1687 he wrote the only stage composition by him of
which any record survives, the _Masque for the Entertainment of the
King: Venus and Adonis_. In this Mary Davies played the part of Venus,
and her daughter by Charles II., Lady Mary Tudor, appeared as Cupid. In
1687 he became master of the choir of St Paul's church; in 1695 he was
elected organist of St Margaret's, Westminster, and is said to have
resumed his post as organist of Westminster Abbey, from which in 1680 he
had retired or been dismissed to make way for Purcell. In 1699 he was
appointed to the newly created post of composer to the chapel royal.
Fourteen services and more than a hundred anthems by Blow are extant. In
addition to his purely ecclesiastical music Blow wrote _Great sir, the
joy of all our hearts_, an ode for New Year's day 1681-1682; similar
compositions for 1683, 1686, 1687, 1688, 1689, 1693 (?), 1694 and 1700;
odes, &c., for the celebration of St Cecilia's day for 1684, 1691, 1695
and 1700; for the coronation of James II. two anthems, _Behold, O God,
our Defender_, and _God spake sometimes in visions_; some harpsichord
pieces for the second part of Playford's _Musick's Handmaid_ (1869);
_Epicedium for Queen Mary_ (1695); _Ode on the Death of Purcell_ (1696).
In 1700 he published his Amphion Anglicus, a collection of pieces of
music for one, two, three and four voices, with a figured-bass
accompaniment. A famous page in Burney's _History of Music_ is devoted
to illustrations of "Dr Blow's Crudities," most of which only show the
meritorious if immature efforts in expression characteristic of English
music at the time, while some of them (where Burney says "Here we are
lost") are really excellent. Blow died on the 1st of October 1708 at his
house in Broad Sanctuary, and was buried in the north aisle of
Westminster Abbey.




BLOW-GUN, a weapon consisting of a long tube, through which, by blowing
with the mouth, arrows or other missiles can be shot accurately to a
considerable distance. Blow-guns are used both in warefare and the chase
by the South American Indian tribes inhabiting the region between the
Amazon and Orinoco rivers, and by the Dyaks of Borneo. In the 18th
century they were also known to certain North American Indians,
especially the Choctaws and Cherokees of the lower Mississippi. Captain
Bossu, in his _Travels through Louisiana_ (1756), says of the Choctaws:
"They are very expert in shooting with an instrument made of reeds about
7 ft. long, into which they put a little arrow feathered with the wool
of the thistle (wild cotton?)." The blow-guns of the South American
Indians differ in style and workmanship. That of the Macusis of Guiana,
called _pucuna_, is the most perfect. It is made of two tubes, the inner
of which, called _oorah_, is a light reed ½ in. in diameter which often
grows to a length of 15 ft. without a joint. This is enclosed, for
protection and solidity, in an outer tube of a variety of palm
(_Iriartella setigera_). The mouth-piece is made of a circlet of
silk-grass, and the farther end is feruled with a kind of nut, forming a
sight. A rear open sight is formed of two teeth of a small rodent. The
length of the _pucuna_ is about 11 ft. and its weight 1½ lb. The arrows,
which are from 12 to 18 in. long and very slender, are made of ribs of
the cocorite palm-leaf. They are usually feathered with a tuft of wild
cotton, but some have in place of the cotton a thin strip of bark curled
into a cone, which, when the shooter blows into the _pucuna_, expands
and completely fills the tube, thus avoiding windage. Another kind of
arrow is furnished with fibres of bark fixed along the shaft, imparting
a rotary motion to the missile, a primitive example of the theory of the
rifle. The arrows used in Peru are only a few inches long and as thin as
fine knitting-needles. All South American blow-gun arrows are steeped in
poison. The natives shoot very accurately with the _pucuna_ at distances
up to 50 or 60 yds.

The blow-gun of the Borneo Dyaks, called _sumpitan_, is from 6 to 7 ft.
long and made of ironwood. The bore, of ½ in., is made with a long
pointed piece of iron. At the muzzle a small iron hook is affixed, to
serve as a sight, as well as a spear-head like a bayonet and for the
same purpose. The arrows used with the _sumpitan_ are about 10 in. long,
pointed with fish-teeth, and feathered with pith. They are also
envenomed with poison.

Poisoned arrows are also used by the natives of the Philippine island of
Mindanao, whose blow-pipes, from 3 to 4 ft. long and made of bamboo, are
often richly ornamented and even jewelled.

The principle of the blow-gun is, of course, the same as that of the
common "pea-shooter."

  See _Sport with Rod and Gun in American Woods and Waters_, by A.M.
  Mayer, vol. ii. (Edinburgh, 1884); _Wanderings in South America_, &c.,
  by Charles Waterton (London, 1828); _The Head Hunters of Borneo_, by
  Carl Bock (London, 1881).




BLOWITZ, HENRI GEORGES STEPHAN ADOLPHE DE (1825-1903), Anglo-French
journalist, was born, according to the account given in his memoirs, at
his father's chateau in Bohemia on the 28th of December 1825. At the age
of fifteen he left home, and travelled over Europe for some years in
company with a young professor of philology, acquiring a thorough
knowledge of French, German and Italian and a mixed general education.
The finances of his family becoming straitened, young Blowitz was on the
point of starting to seek his fortune in America, when he became
acquainted in Paris with M. de Falloux, minister of public instruction,
who appointed him professor of foreign languages at the Tours Lycée,
whence, after some years, he was transferred to the Marseilles Lycée.
After marrying in 1859 he resigned his professorship, but remained at
Marseilles, devoting himself to literature and politics. In 1869
information which he supplied to a legitimist newspaper at Marseilles
with regard to the candidature of M. de Lesseps as deputy for that city
led to a demand for his expulsion from France. He was, however, allowed
to remain, but had to retire to the country. In 1870 his predictions of
the approaching fall of the Empire caused the demand for his expulsion
to be renewed. While his case was under discussion the battle of Sedan
was fought, and Blowitz effectually ingratiated himself with the
authorities by applying for naturalization as a French subject. Once
naturalized, he returned to Marseilles, where he was fortunately able to
render considerable service to Thiers, who subsequently employed him in
collecting information at Versailles, and when this work was finished
offered him the French consulship at Riga. Blowitz was on the point of
accepting this post when Laurence Oliphant, then Paris correspondent of
_The Times_, for which Blowitz had already done some occasional work,
asked him to act as his regular assistant for a time, Frederick Hardman,
the other Paris correspondent of _The Times_, being absent. Blowitz
accepted the offer, and when, later on, Oliphant was succeeded by
Hardman he remained as assistant correspondent. In 1873 Hardman died,
and Blowitz became chief Paris correspondent to _The Times_. In this
capacity he soon became famous in the world of journalism and diplomacy.
In 1875 the duc de Decazcs, then French foreign minister, showed Blowitz
a confidential despatch from the French ambassador in Berlin (in which
the latter warned his government that Germany was contemplating an
attack on France), and requested the correspondent to expose the German
designs in _The Times_. The publication of the facts effectually aroused
European public opinion, and any such intention was immediately
thwarted. Blowitz's most sensational journalistic feat was achieved in
1878, when his enterprise enabled _The Times_ to publish the whole text
of the treaty of Berlin at the actual moment that the treaty was being
signed in Germany. In 1877 and again in 1888 Blowitz rendered
considerable service to the French government by his exposure of
internal designs upon the Republic. He died on the 18th of January 1903.

  _My Memoirs_, by H.S. de Blowitz, was published in 1903.




BLOWPIPE, in the arts and chemistry, a tube for directing a jet of air
into a fire or into the flame of a lamp or gas jet, for the purpose of
producing a high temperature by accelerating the combustion. The
blowpipe has been in common use from the earliest times for soldering
metals and working glass, but its introduction into systematic chemical
analysis is to be ascribed to A.F. Cronstedt, and not to Anton Swab, as
has been maintained (see J. Landauer, _Ber_. 26, p. 898). The first work
on this application of the blowpipe was by G. v. Engeström, and was
published in 1770 as an appendix to a treatise on mineralogy. Its
application has been variously improved at the hands of T.O. Bergman,
J.G. Gahn, J.J. Berzelius, C.F. Plattner and others, but more especially
by the two last-named chemists.

The simplest and oldest form of blowpipe is a conical brass tube, about
7 in. in length, curved at the small end into a right angle, and
terminating in a small round orifice, which is applied to the flame,
while the larger end is applied to the mouth. Where the blast has to be
kept up for only a few seconds, this instrument is quite serviceable,
but in longer chemical operations inconvenience arises from the
condensation of moisture exhaled by the lungs in the tube. Hence most
blowpipes are now made with a cavity for retaining the moisture.
Cronstedt placed a bulb in the centre of his blowpipe. Dr Joseph Black's
instrument consists of a conical tube of tin plate, with a small brass
tube, supporting the nozzle, inserted near the wider end, and a
mouth-piece at the narrow end.

The sizes of orifice recommended by Plattner are 0.4 and 0.5 mm. A
trumpet mouth-piece is recommended from the support it gives to the
cheeks when inflated. The mode of blowing is peculiar, and requires some
practice; an uninterrupted blast is kept up by the muscular action of
the cheeks, while the ordinary respiration goes on through the nostrils.

If the flame of a candle or lamp be closely examined, it will be seen to
consist of four parts--(a) a deep blue ring at the base, (b) a dark cone
in the centre, (c) a luminous portion round this, and (d) an exterior
pale blue envelope (see FLAME). In blowpipe work only two of these four
parts are made use of, viz. the pale envelope, for oxidation, and the
luminous portion, for reduction. To obtain a good _oxidizing flame_, the
blowpipe is held with its nozzle inserted in the edge of the flame close
over the level of the wick, and blown into gently and evenly. A conical
jet is thus produced, consisting of an inner cone, with an outer one
commencing near its apex--the former, corresponding to (a) in the free
flame, blue and well defined; the latter corresponding to (d), pale blue
and vague. The heat is greatest just beyond the point of the inner cone,
combustion being there most complete. Oxidation is better effected (if a
very high temperature be not required) the farther the substance is from
the apex of the inner cone, for the air has thus freer access. To obtain
a good _reducing flame_ (in which the combustible matter, very hot, but
not yet burned, is disposed to take oxygen from any compound containing
it), the nozzle, with smaller orifice, should just touch the flame at a
point higher above the wick, and a somewhat weaker current of air should
be blown. The flame then appears as a long, narrow, luminous cone, the
end being enveloped by a dimly visible portion of flame corresponding to
that which surrounds the free flame, while there is also a dark nucleus
about the wick. The substance to be reduced is brought into the luminous
portion, where the reducing power is strongest.

Various materials are used as supports for substances in the blowpipe
flame; the principal are charcoal, platinum and glass or porcelain.
Charcoal is valuable for its infusibility and low conductivity for heat
(allowing substances to be strongly heated upon it), and for its
powerful reducing properties; so that it is chiefly employed in testing
the fusibility of minerals and in reduction. The best kind of charcoal
is that of close-grained pine or alder; it is cut in short prisms,
having a flat smooth surface at right angles to the rings of growth. In
this a shallow hole is made for receiving the substance to be held in
the flame. Gas-carbon is sometimes used, since it is more permanent in
the flame than wood charcoal. _Platinum_ is employed in oxidizing
processes, and in the fusion of substances with fluxes; also in
observing the colouring effect of substances on the blowpipe flame
(which effect is apt to be somewhat masked by charcoal). Most commonly
it is used in the form of wire, with a small bend or loop at the end.

The mouth blowpipe is unsuitable for the production of a large flame,
and cannot be used for any lengthy operations; hence recourse must be
made to types in which the air-blast is occasioned by mechanical means.
The laboratory form in common use consists of a bellows worked by either
hand or foot, and a special type of gas burner formed of two concentric
tubes, one conveying the blast, the other the gas; the supply of air and
gas being regulated by stopcocks. The _hot blast blowpipe_ of T.
Fletcher, in which the blast is heated by passing through a copper coil
heated by a separate burner, is only of service when a pointed flame of
a fairly high temperature is required. Blowpipes in which oxygen is used
as the blast have been manufactured by Fletcher, Russell & Co., and have
proved of great service in conducting fusions which require a
temperature above that yielded by the air-blowpipe.

  For the applications of the blowpipe in chemical analysis see
  CHEMISTRY: _Analytical_.




BLÜCHER, GEBHARD LEBERECHT VON (1742-1819), Prussian general field
marshal, prince of Wahlstadt in Silesia, was born at Rostock on the 16th
of December 1742. In his fourteenth year he entered the service of
Sweden, and in the Pomeranian campaign of 1760 he was taken prisoner by
the Prussians. He was persuaded by his captors to enter the Prussian
service. He took part in the later battles of the Seven Years' War, and
as a hussar officer gained much experience of light cavalry work. In
peace, however, his ardent spirit led him into excesses of all kinds,
and being passed over for promotion he sent in his resignation, to which
Frederick replied, "Captain Blücher can take himself to the devil"
(1773). He now settled down to farming, and in fifteen years he had
acquired an honourable independence. But he was unable to return to the
army until after the death of Frederick the Great. He was then
reinstated as major in his old regiment, the Red Hussars. He took part
in the expedition to Holland in 1787, and in the following year became
lieutenant-colonel. In 1789 he received the order _pour le mérite_, and
in 1794 he became colonel of the Red Hussars. In 1793 and 1794 he
distinguished himself in cavalry actions against the French, and for his
success at Kirrweiler he was made a major-general. In 1801 he was
promoted lieutenant-general.

He was one of the leaders of the war party in Prussia in 1805-1806, and
served as a cavalry general in the disastrous campaign of the latter
year. At Auerstädt Blücher repeatedly charged at the head of the
Prussian cavalry, but without success. In the retreat of the broken
armies he commanded the rearguard of Prince Hohenlohe's corps, and upon
the capitulation of the main body of Prenzlau he carried off a remnant
of the Prussian army to the northward, and in the neighbourhood of
Lübeck he fought a series of combats, which, however, ended in his being
forced to surrender at Ratkau (November 7, 1806). His adversaries
testified in his capitulation that it was caused by "want of provisions
and ammunition." He was soon exchanged for General Victor, and was
actively employed in Pomerania, at Berlin, and at Königsberg until the
conclusion of the war. After the war, Blücher was looked upon as the
natural leader of the patriot party, with which he was in close touch
during the period of Napoleonic domination. His hopes of an alliance
with Austria in the war of 1809 were disappointed. In this year he was
made general of cavalry. In 1812 he expressed himself so openly on the
alliance of Russia with France that he was recalled from his military
governorship of Pomerania and virtually banished from the court.

When at last the Napoleonic domination was ended by the outbreak of the
War of Liberation in 1813, Blücher of course was at once placed in high
command, and he was present at Lützen and Bautzen. During the armistice
he worked at the organization of the Prussian forces, and when the war
was resumed Blücher became commander-in-chief of the Army of Silesia,
with Gneisenau and Müffling as his principal staff officers, and 40,000
Prussians and 50,000 Russians under his control. The autumn campaign of
1813 will be found described in the article NAPOLEONIC CAMPAIGNS, and it
will here be sufficient to say that the most conspicuous military
quality displayed by Blücher was his unrelenting energy. The
irresolution and divergence of interests usual in allied armies found in
him a restless opponent, and the knowledge that if he could not induce
others to co-operate he was prepared to attempt the task in hand by
himself often caused other generals to follow his lead. He defeated
Marshal Macdonald at the Katzbach, and by his victory over Marmont at
Möckern led the way to the decisive overthrow of Napoleon at Leipzig,
which place was stormed by Blücher's own army on the evening of the last
day of the battle. On the day of Mockern (October 16, 1813) Blücher was
made a general field marshal, and after the victory he pursued the
routed French with his accustomed energy. In the winter of 1813-1814
Blücher, with his chief staff officers, was mainly instrumental in
inducing the allied sovereigns to carry the war into France itself. The
combat of Brienne and the battle of La Rothière were the chief incidents
of the first stage of the celebrated campaign of 1814, and they were
quickly followed by the victories of Napoleon over Blücher at
Champaubert, Vauxchamps and Montmirail. But the courage of the Prussian
leader was undiminished, and his great victory of Laon (March 9 to 10)
practically decided the fate of the campaign. After this Blücher infused
some of his own energy into the operations of Prince Schwarzenberg's
Army of Bohemia, and at last this army and the Army of Silesia marched
in one body direct upon Paris. The victory of Montmartre, the entry of
the allies into the French capital, and the overthrow of the First
Empire were the direct consequences. Blücher was disposed to make a
severe retaliation upon Paris for the calamities that Prussia had
suffered from the armies of France had not the allied commanders
intervened to prevent it. Blowing up the bridge of Jena was said to be
one of his contemplated acts. On the 3rd of June 1814 he was made prince
of Wahlstadt (in Silesia on the Katzbach battlefield), and soon
afterwards he paid a visit to England, being received everywhere with
the greatest enthusiasm.

After the peace he retired to Silesia, but the return of Napoleon soon
called him to further service. He was put in command of the Army of the
Lower Rhine with General Gneisenau as his chief of staff (see WATERLOO
CAMPAIGN). In the campaign of 1815 the Prussians sustained a very severe
defeat at the outset at Ligny (June 16), in the course of which the old
field marshal was ridden over by cavalry charges, his life being saved
only by the devotion of his aide-de-camp, Count Nostitz. He was unable
to resume command for some hours, and Gneisenau drew off the defeated
army. The relations of the Prussian and the English headquarters were at
this time very complicated, and it is uncertain whether Blücher himself
was responsible for the daring resolution to march to Wellington's
assistance. This was in fact done, and after an incredibly severe march
Blücher's army intervened with decisive and crushing effect in the
battle of Waterloo. The great victory was converted into a success
absolutely decisive of the war by the relentless pursuit of the
Prussians, and the allies re-entered Paris on the 7th of July. Prince
Blücher remained in the French capital for some months, but his age and
infirmities compelled him to retire to his Silesian residence at
Krieblowitz, where he died on the 12th of September 1819, aged
seventy-seven. He retained to the end of his life that wildness of
character and proneness to excesses which had caused his dismissal from
the army in his youth, but however they may be regarded, these faults
sprang always from the ardent and vivid temperament which made Blücher a
dashing leader of horse. The qualities which made him a great general
were his patriotism and the hatred of French domination which inspired
every success of the War of Liberation. He was twice married, and had,
by his first marriage, two sons and a daughter. Statues were erected to
his memory at Berlin, Breslau and Rostock.

  Of the various lives of Prince Blücher, that by Varnhagen von Ense
  (1827) is the most important. His war diaries of 1793-1794, together
  with a memoir (written in 1805) on the subject of a national army,
  were edited by Golz and Ribbentrop (Campagne Journal 1793-4 von _Gl.
  Lt. v. Blucher_).




BLUE (common in different forms to most European languages), the name of
a colour, used in many colloquial phrases. From the fact of various
parties, political and other, having adopted the colour blue as their
badge, various classes of people have come to be known as "blue" or
"blues"; thus "true blue" meant originally a staunch Presbyterian, the
Covenanters having adopted blue as their colour as opposed to red, the
royal colour; similarly, in the navy, there was in the 18th century a
"Blue Squadron," Nelson being at one time "Rear-Admiral of the Blue";
again, in 1690, the Royal Horse Guards were called the "Blues" from
their blue uniforms, or, from their leader, the earl of Oxford, the
"Oxford Blues"; also, from the blue ribbon worn by the knights of the
Garter comes the use of the phrase as the highest mark of distinction
that can be worn, especially applied on the turf to the winning of the
Derby. The "blue Peter" is a rectangular blue flag, with a white square
in the centre, hoisted at the top of the foremast as a signal that a
vessel is about to leave port. At Oxford and Cambridge a man who
represents his university in certain athletic sports is called a "blue"
from the "colours" he is then entitled to wear, dark blue for Oxford and
light blue for Cambridge.




BLUEBEARD, the monster of Charles Perrault's tale of _Barbe Bleue_, who
murdered his wives and hid their bodies in a locked room. Perrault's
tale was first printed in his _Histoires et contes du temps passé_
(1697). The essentials of the story--Bluebeard's prohibition to his wife
to open a certain door during his absence, her disobedience, her
discovery of a gruesome secret, and her timely rescue from death--are to
be found in other folklore stories, none of which, however, has attained
the fame of _Bluebeard_. A close parallel exists in an Esthonian legend
of a husband who had already killed eleven wives, and was prevented from
killing the twelfth, who had opened a secret room, by a gooseherd, the
friend of her childhood. In "The Feather Bird" of Grimm's _Hausmärchen_,
three sisters are the victims, the third being rescued by her brothers.
Bluebeard, though Perrault does not state the number of his crimes, is
generally credited with the murder of seven wives. His history belongs
to the common stock of folklore, and has even been ingeniously fitted
with a mythical interpretation. In France the Bluebeard legend has its
local habitation in Brittany, but whether the existing traditions
connecting him with Gilles de Rais (q.v.) or Comorre the Cursed, a
Breton chief of the 6th century, were anterior to Perrault's time, we
have no means of determining. The identification of Bluebeard with
Gilles de Rais, the _bête d'extermination_ of Michelet's forcible
language, persists locally in the neighbourhood of the various castles
of the baron, especially at Machecoul and Tiffauges, the chief scenes of
his infamous crimes. Gilles de Rais, however, had only one wife, who
survived him, and his victims were in the majority of cases young boys.
The traditional connexion may arise simply from the not improbable
association of two monstrous tales. The less widespread identification
of Bluebeard with Comorre is supported by a series of frescoes dating
only a few years later than the publication of Perrault's story, in a
chapel at St Nicolas de Bieuzy dedicated to St Tryphine, in which the
tale of Bluebeard is depicted as the story of the saint, who in history
was the wife of Comorre. Comorre or Conomor had his original
headquarters at Carhaix, in Finistère. He extended his authority by
marriage with the widow of Iona, chief of Domnonia, and attempted the
life of his stepson Judwal, who fled to the Frankish court. About 547 or
548 he obtained in marriage, through the intercession of St Gildas,
Tryphine, daughter of Weroc, count of Vannes. The pair lived in peace at
Castel Finans for some time, but Comorre, disappointed in his ambitions
in the Vannetais, presently threatened Tryphine. She took flight, but
her husband found her hiding in a wood, when he gave her a wound on the
skull and left her for dead. She was tended and restored to health by St
Gildas, and after the birth of her son retired to a convent of her own
foundation. Eventually Comorre was defeated and slain by Judwal. In
legend St Tryphine was decapitated and miraculously restored to life by
Gildas. Alain Bouchard (_Grandes croniques_, Nantes, 1531) asserts that
Comorre had already put several wives to death before he married
Tryphine. In the _Légendes bretonnes_ of the count d'Amezeuil the
church legend becomes a charming fairy tale.

  See also E.A. Vizetclly, _Bluebeard_ (1902); E. Sidney Hartland, "The
  Forbidden Chamber," in _Folklore_, vol. iii. (1885); and the editions
  of the _Contes_ of Charles Perrault (q.v.). Cf. A. France, _Les Sept
  Femmes de Barbe Bleue_ (1909).




BLUE-BOOK, the general name given to the reports and other documents
printed by order of the parliament of the United Kingdom, so called from
their being usually covered with blue paper, though some are bound in
drab and others have white covers. The printing of its proceedings was
first adopted by the House of Commons in 1681, and in 1836 was commenced
the practice of selling parliamentary papers to the public. All notices
of questions, resolutions, votes and proceedings in both Houses of
Parliament are issued each day during the session; other publications
include the various papers issued by the different government
departments, the reports of committees and commissions of inquiry,
public bills, as well as returns, correspondence, &c., specially ordered
to be printed by either house. The papers of each session are so
arranged as to admit of being bound up in regular order, and are well
indexed. The terms upon which blue-books, single papers, &c., are issued
to the general public are one halfpenny per sheet of four pages, but for
an annual subscription of £20 all the parliamentary publications of the
year may be obtained; but subscriptions can be arranged so that almost
any particular class of publication can be obtained--for example, the
daily votes and proceedings can be obtained for an annual subscription
of £3, the House of Lords papers for £10, or the House of Commons papers
for £15. Any publication can also be purchased separately.

Most foreign countries have a distinctive colour for the binding of
their official publications. That of the United Slates varies, but
foreign diplomatic correspondence is bound in red. The United States
government publications are not only on sale (as a rule) but are widely
supplied gratis, with the result that important publications soon get
out of print, and it is difficult to obtain access to many valuable
reports or other information, except at a public library. German
official publications are bound in white; French, in yellow; Austrian,
in red; Portuguese, in white; Italian, in green; Spanish, in red;
Mexican, in green; Japanese, in grey; Chinese, in yellow.




BLUESTOCKING, a derisive name for a literary woman. The term originated
in or about 1750, when Mrs Elizabeth Montagu (q.v.) made a determined
effort to introduce into society a healthier and more intellectual tone,
by holding assemblies at which literary conversation and discussions
were to take the place of cards and gossip. Most of those attending were
conspicuous by the plainness of their dress, and a Mr Benjamin
Stillingfleet specially caused comment by always wearing blue or worsted
stockings instead of the usual black silk. It was in special reference
to him that Mrs Montagu's friends were called the Bluestocking Society
or Club, and the women frequenting her house in Hill Street came to be
known as the "Bluestocking Ladies" or simply "bluestockings." As an
alternative explanation, the origin of the name is attributed to Mrs
Montagu's deliberate adoption of blue stockings (in which fashion she
was followed by all her women friends) as the badge of the society she
wished to form. She is said to have obtained the idea from Paris, where
in the 17th century there was a revival of a social reunion in 1590 on
the lines of that formed in 1400 at Venice, the ladies and men of which
wore blue stockings. The term had been applied in England as early as
1653 to the Little Parliament, in allusion to the puritanically plain
and coarse dress of the members.




BLUFF (a word of uncertain origin; possibly connected with an obsolete
Dutch word, _blaf_, broad), an adjective used of a ship, meaning broad
and nearly vertical in the bows; similarly, of a cliff or shore,
presenting a bold and nearly perpendicular front; of a person,
good-natured and frank, with a rough or abrupt manner. Another word
"bluff," perhaps connected with German _verblüffen_, to baffle, meant
originally a horse's blinker, the corresponding verb meaning to
blindfold: it survives as a term in such games as poker, where "to
bluff" means to bet heavily on a hand so as to make an opponent believe
it to be stronger than it is; hence such phrases as "the game of bluff,"
"a policy of bluff."




BLUM, ROBERT FREDERICK (1857-1903), American artist, was born in
Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 9th of July 1857. He was employed for a time in
a lithographic shop, and studied at the McMicken Art School of Design in
Cincinnati, and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in
Philadelphia, but he was practically self-taught, and early showed great
and original talent. He settled in New York in 1879, and his first
published sketches--of Japanese jugglers--appeared in _St Nicholas_. His
most important work is a large frieze in the Mendelssohn Music Hall, New
York, "Music and the Dance" (1895). His pen-and-ink work for the Century
magazine attracted wide attention, as did his illustrations for Sir
Edwin Arnold's _Japonica_. In the country and art of Japan he had been
interested for many years. "A Daughter of Japan," drawn by Blum and W.J.
Baer, was the cover of _Scribner's Magazine_ for May 1893, and was one
of the earliest pieces of colour-printing for an American magazine. In
_Scribner's_ for 1893 appeared also his "Artist's Letters from Japan."
He was an admirer of Fortuny, whose methods somewhat influenced his
work. Blum's Venetian pictures, such as "A Bright Day at Venice" (1882),
had lively charm and beauty. He died on the 8th of June 1903 in New York
City. He was a member of the National Academy of Design, being elected
after his exhibition in 1892 of "The Ameya"; and was president of the
Painters in Pastel. Although an excellent draughtsman and etcher, it was
as a colourist that he chiefly excelled.




BLUMENBACH, JOHANN FRIEDRICH (1752-1840), German physiologist and
anthropologist, was born at Gotha on the 11th of May 1752. After
studying medicine at Jena, he graduated doctor at Göttingen in 1775, and
was appointed extraordinary professor of medicine in 1776 and ordinary
professor in 1778. He died at Göttingen on the 22nd of January 1840. He
was the author of _Institutiones Physiologicae_ (1787), and of a
_Handbuch der vergleichenden Anatomie_ (1804), both of which were very
popular and went through many editions, but he is best known for his
work in connexion with anthropology, of which science he has been justly
called the founder. He was the first to show the value of comparative
anatomy in the study of man's history, and his craniometrical researches
justified his division of the human race into several great varieties or
families, of which he enumerated five--the Caucasian or white race, the
Mongolian or yellow, the Malayan or brown race, the Negro or black race,
and the American or red race. This classification has been very
generally received, and most later schemes have been modifications of
it. His most important anthropological work was his description of sixty
human crania published originally in _fasciculi_ under the title
_Collectionis suae craniorum diversarum gentium illustratae decades_
(Göttingen, 1790-1828).




BLUMENTHAL, LEONHARD, COUNT VON (1810-1900), Prussian field marshal, son
of Captain Ludwig von Blumenthal (killed in 1813 at the battle of
Dennewitz), was born at Schwedt-on-Oder on the 30th of July 1810.
Educated at the military schools of Culm and Berlin, he entered the
Guards as 2nd lieutenant in 1827. After serving in the Rhine provinces,
he joined the topographical division of the general staff in 1846. As
lieutenant of the 31st foot he took part in 1848 in the suppression of
the Berlin riots, and in 1849 was promoted captain on the general staff.
The same year he served on the staff of General von Bonin in the
Schleswig-Holstein campaign, and so distinguished himself, particularly
at Fredericia, that he was appointed chief of the staff of the
Schleswig-Holstein army. In 1850 he was general staff officer of the
mobile division under von Tietzen in Hesse-Cassel. He was sent on a
mission to England in that year (4th class of Red Eagle), and on several
subsequent occasions. Having attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel, he
was appointed personal adjutant to Prince Frederick Charles in 1859. In
1860 he became colonel of the 31st, and later of the 71st, regiment. He
was chief of the staff of the III. army corps when, on the outbreak of
the Danish War of 1864, he was nominated chief of the general staff of
the army against Denmark, and displayed so much ability, particularly at
Düppel and the passage to Alsen island, that he was promoted
major-general and given the order _pour le mérite_. In the war of 1866
Blumenthal occupied the post of chief of the general staff to the crown
prince of Prussia, commanding the 2nd army. It was upon this army that
the brunt of the fighting fell, and at Königgrätz it decided the
fortunes of the day. Blumenthal's own part in these battles and in the
campaign generally was most conspicuous. On the field of Königgrätz the
crown prince said to his chief of staff, "I know to whom I owe the
conduct of my army," and Blumenthal soon received promotion to
lieutenant-general and the oak-leaf of the order _pour le mérite_. He
was also made a knight of the Hohenzollern Order. From 1866 to 1870 he
commanded the 14th division at Düsseldorf. In the Franco-German War of
1870-71 he was chief of staff of the 3rd army under the crown prince.
Blumenthal's soldierly qualities and talent were never more conspicuous
than in the critical days preceding the battle of Sedan, and his
services in the war have been considered as scarcely less valuable and
important than those of Moltke himself. In 1871 Blumenthal represented
Germany at the British manoeuvres at Chobham, and was given the command
of the IV. army corps at Magdeburg. In 1873 he became a general of
infantry, and ten years later he was made a count. In 1888 he was made a
general field marshal, after which he was in command of the 4th and 3rd
army inspections. He retired in 1896, and died at Quellendorf near
Köthen on the 21st of December 1900.

  Blumenthal's diary of 1866 and 1870-1871 has been edited by his son,
  Count Albrecht von Blumenthal (_Tagebuch des G.F.M. von Blumenthal_),
  1902; an English translation (_Journals of Count von Blumenthal_) was
  published in 1903.




BLUNDERBUSS (a corruption of the Dutch _donder_, thunder, and the Dutch
_bus_; cf. Ger. _Büchse_, a box or tube, hence a thunder-box or gun), an
obsolete muzzle-loading firearm with a bell-shaped muzzle. Its calibre
was large so that it could contain many balls or slugs, and it was
intended to be fired at a short range, so that some of the charge was
sure to take effect. The word is also used by analogy to describe a
blundering and random person or talker.




BLUNT, JOHN HENRY (1823-1884), English divine, was born at Chelsea in
1823, and before going to the university of Durham in 1850 was for some
years engaged in business as a manufacturing chemist. He was ordained in
1852 and took his M.A. degree in 1855, publishing in the same year a
work on _The Atonement_. He held in succession several preferments,
among them the vicarage of Kennington near Oxford (1868), which he
vacated in 1873 for the crown living of Beverston in Gloucestershire. He
had already gained some reputation as an industrious theologian, and had
published among other works an annotated edition of the Prayer Book
(1867), a _History of the English Reformation_ (1868), and a _Book of
Church Law_ (1872), as well as a useful _Dictionary of Doctrinal and
Historical Theology_ (1870). The continuation of these labours was seen
in a _Dictionary of Sects and Heresies_ (1874), an _Annotated Bible_ (3
vols., 1878-1879), and a _Cyclopaedia of Religion_ (1884), and received
recognition in the shape of the D.D. degree bestowed on him in 1882. He
died in London on the 11th of April 1884.




BLUNT, JOHN JAMES (1794-1855), English divine, was born at
Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, and educated at St John's
College, Cambridge, where he took his degree as fifteenth wrangler and
obtained a fellowship (1816). He was appointed a Wort's travelling
bachelor 1818, and spent some time in Italy and Sicily, afterwards
publishing an account of his journey. He proceeded M.A. in 1819, B.D.
1826, and was Hulsean Lecturer in 1831-1832 while holding a curacy in
Shropshire. In 1834 he became rector of Great Oakley in Essex, and in
1839 was appointed Lady Margaret professor of divinity at Cambridge. In
1854 he declined the see of Salisbury, and he died on the 18th of June
1855. His chief book was _Undesigned Coincidences in the Writings both
of the Old and New Testaments_ (1833; fuller edition, 1847). Some of
his writings, among them the _History of the Christian Church during the
First Three Centuries_ and the lectures _On the Right Use of the Early
Fathers_, were published posthumously.

  A short memoir of him appeared in 1856 from the hand of William
  Selwyn, his successor in the divinity professorship.




BLUNT, WILFRID SCAWEN (1840-   ), English poet and publicist, was born
on the 17th of August 1840 at Petworth House, Sussex, the son of Francis
Scawen Blunt, who served in the Peninsular War and was wounded at
Corunna. He was educated at Stonyhurst and Oscott, and entered the
diplomatic service in 1858, serving successively at Athens, Madrid,
Paris and Lisbon. In 1867 he was sent to South America, and on his
return to England retired from the service on his marriage with Lady
Anne Noel, daughter of the earl of Lovelace and a grand-daughter of the
poet Byron. In 1872 he succeeded, by the death of his elder brother, to
the estate of Crabbet Park, Sussex, where he established a famous stud
for the breeding of Arab horses. Mr and Lady Anne Blunt travelled
repeatedly in northern Africa, Asia Minor and Arabia, two of their
expeditions being described in Lady Anne's _Bedouins of the Euphrates_
(2 vols., 1879) and _A Pilgrimage to Nejd_ (2 vols., 1881). Mr Blunt
became known as an ardent sympathizer with Mahommedan aspirations, and
in his _Future of Islam_ (1888) he directed attention to the forces
which afterwards produced the movements of Pan-Islamism and Mahdism. He
was a violent opponent of the English policy in the Sudan, and in _The
Wind and the Whirlwind_ (in verse, 1883) prophesied its downfall. He
supported the national party in Egypt, and took a prominent part in the
defence of Arabi Pasha. _Ideas about India_ (1885) was the result of two
visits to that country, the second in 1883-1884. In 1885 and 1886 he
stood unsuccessfully for parliament as a Home Ruler; and in 1887 he was
arrested in Ireland while presiding over a political meeting in
connexion with the agitation on Lord Clanricarde's estate, and was
imprisoned for two months in Kilmainham. His best-known volume of verse,
_Love Sonnets of Proteus_ (1880), is a revelation of his real merits as
an emotional poet. _The Poetry of Wilfrid Blunt_ (1888), selected and
edited by W.E. Henley and Mr George Wyndham, includes these sonnets,
together with "Worth Forest, a Pastoral," "Griselda" (described as a
"society novel in rhymed verse"), translations from the Arabic, and
poems which had appeared in other volumes.




BLUNTSCHLI, JOHANN KASPAR (1808-1881), Swiss jurist and politician, was
born at Zürich on the 7th of March 1808, the son of a soap and candle
manufacturer. From school he passed into the _Politische Institut_ (a
seminary of law and political science) in his native town, and
proceeding thence to the universities of Berlin and Bonn, took the
degree of _doctor juris_ in the latter in 1829. Returning to Zurich in
1830, he threw himself with ardour into the political strife which was
at the time unsettling all the cantons of the Confederation, and in this
year published _Über die Verfassung der Stadt Zürich_ (On the
Constitution of the City of Zurich). This was followed by _Das Volk und
der Souverän_ (1830), a work in which, while pleading for constitutional
government, he showed his bitter repugnance of the growing Swiss
radicalism. Elected in 1837 a member of the Grosser Rath (Great
Council), he became the champion of the moderate conservative party.
Fascinated by the metaphysical views of the philosopher Friedrich Rohmer
(1814-1856), a man who attracted little other attention, he endeavoured
in _Psychologische Studien über Staat und Kirche_ (1844) to apply them
to political science generally, and in particular as a panacea for the
constitutional troubles of Switzerland. Bluntschli, shortly before his
death, remarked, "I have gained renown as a jurist, but my greatest
desert is to have comprehended Rohmer." This philosophical essay,
however, coupled with his uncompromising attitude towards both
radicalism and ultramontanism, brought him many enemies, and rendered
his continuance in the council, of which he had been elected president,
impossible. He resigned his seat, and on the overthrow of the Sonderbund
in 1847, perceiving that all hope of power for his party was lost, took
leave of Switzerland with the pamphlet _Stimme eines Schweizers über
die Bundesreform_ (1847), and settled at Munich, where he became
professor of constitutional law in 1848.

At Munich he devoted himself with energy to the special work of his
chair, and, resisting the temptation to identify himself with politics,
published _Allgemeines Staatsrecht_ (1851-1852); _Lehre vom modernen
Staat_ (1875-1876); and, in conjunction with Karl Ludwig Theodor Brater
(1819-1869), _Deutsches Staats-wörterbuch_ (II vols., 1857-1870:
abridged by Edgar Loening in 3 vols., 1869-1875). Meanwhile he had
assiduously worked at his code for the canton of Zürich,
_Privatrechtliches Gesetzbuch für den Kanton Zürich_ (4 vols.,
1854-1856), a work which was much praised at the time, and which,
particularly the section devoted to contracts, served as a model for
codes both in Switzerland and other countries. In 1861 Bluntschli
received a call to Heidelberg as professor of constitutional law
(Staatsrecht), where he again entered the political arena, endeavouring
in his _Geschichte des allgemeinen Staatsrechts und der Politik_ (1864)
"to stimulate," as he said, "the political consciousness of the German
people, to cleanse it of prejudices and to further it intellectually."
In his new home, Baden, he devoted his energies and political influence,
during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, towards keeping the country
neutral. From this time Bluntschli became active in the field of
international law, and his fame as a jurist belongs rather to this
province than to that of constitutional law. His _Das moderne
Kriegsrecht_ (1866); _Das moderns Völkerrecht_ (1868), and _Das
Beuterecht im Krieg_ (1878) are likely to remain invaluable text-books
in this branch of the science of jurisprudence. He also wrote a pamphlet
on the "Alabama" case.

Bluntschli was one of the founders, at Ghent in 1873, of the Institute
of International Law, and was the representative of the German emperor
at the conference on the international laws of war at Brussels. During
the latter years of his life he took a lively interest in the
_Protestantenverein_, a society formed to combat reactionary and
ultramontane views of theology. He died suddenly at Karlsruhe on the
21st of October 1881. His library was acquired by Johns Hopkins
University at Baltimore, U.S.A.

Among his works, other than those before mentioned, may be cited
_Deutsches Privatrecht_ (1853-1854); _Deutsche Staatslehre für
Gebildete_ (1874); and _Deutsche Staatslehre und die heutige
Staatenwelt_ (1880).

  For notices of Bluntschli's life and works see his interesting
  autobiography, _Denkwurdiges aus meinem Leben_ (1884); von
  Holtzendorff, _Bluntschli und seine Verdienste um die
  Staatswissenschaften_ (1882); Brockhaus, _Konversations-Lexicon_
  (1901); and a biography by Meyer von Kronau, in _Allgemeine deutsche
  Biographie_.




BLYTH, a market town and seaport of Northumberland, England, in the
parliamentary borough of Morpeth, 9 m. E.S.E. of that town, at the mouth
of the river Blyth, on a branch of the North Eastern railway. Pop. of
urban district (1901) 5472. This is the port for a considerable
coal-mining district, and its harbour, on the south side of the river,
is provided with mechanical appliances for shipping coal. There are five
dry docks, and upwards of 1 ½ m. of quayage. Timber is largely imported.
Some shipbuilding and the manufacture of rope, sails and ship-fittings
are carried on, and the fisheries are valuable. Blyth is also in
considerable favour as a watering-place; there are a pleasant park, a
pier, protecting the harbour, about 1 m. in length, and a sandy beach
affording sea-bathing. The river Blyth rises near the village of
Kirkheaton, and has an easterly course of about 25 m. through a deep,
well-wooded and picturesque valley.




B'NAI B'RITH (or SONS OF THE COVENANT), INDEPENDENT ORDER OF, a Jewish
fraternal society. It was founded at New York in 1843 by a number of
German Jews, headed by Henry Jones, and is the oldest as well as the
largest of the Jewish fraternal organizations. Its membership in 1908
was 35,870, its 481 lodges and 10 grand lodges being distributed over
the United States, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Rumania, Egypt and
Palestine. Its objects are to promote a high morality among Jews,
regardless of differences as to dogma and ceremonial customs, and
especially to inculcate the supreme virtues of charity and brotherly
love. Political and religious discussions were from the first excluded
from the debates of the order. In 1851 the first grand lodge was
established at New York; in 1856, the number of district lodges having
increased, the supreme authority was vested in a central body consisting
of one member from each lodge; and by the present constitution, adopted
in 1868, this authority is vested in a president elected for five years,
an executive committee and court of appeals (elected as before). The
first lodge in Germany was instituted at Berlin in 1883. A large number
of charitable and other public institutions have been established in the
United States and elsewhere by the order, of which may be mentioned the
large orphan asylum in Cleveland, the home for the aged and infirm at
Yonkers, N.Y., the National Jewish hospital for consumptives at Denver,
and the Maimonides library in New York City. The B'nai B'rith society
has also co-operated largely with other Jewish philanthropic
organizations in succouring distressed Israelites throughout the world.

  See the _Jewish Encyclopaedia_ (1902), s.v.




BOA, a name formerly applied to all large serpents which, devoid of
poison fangs, kill their prey by constriction; but now confined to that
subfamily of the _Boidae_ which are devoid of teeth in the praemaxilla
and are without supraorbital bones. The others are known as pythons
(q.v.). The true boas comprise some forty species; most of them are
American, but the genus _Eryx_ inhabits North Africa, Greece and
south-western Asia; the genus _Enygrus_ ranges from New Guinea to the
Fiji; _Casarea dussumieri_ is restricted to Round Island, near
Mauritius; and two species of _Boa_ and one of _Corallus_ represent this
subfamily in Madagascar, while all the other boas live in America,
chiefly in tropical parts. All _Boidae_ possess vestiges of pelvis and
hind limbs, appearing externally as claw-like spurs on each side of the
vent, but they are so small that they are practically without function
in climbing. The usually short tail is prehensile.

One of the commonest species of the genus _Boa_ is the _Boa
constrictor_, which has a wide range from tropical Mexico to Brazil. The
head is covered with small scales, only one of the preoculars being
enlarged. The general colour is a delicate pale brown, with about a
dozen and a half darker cross-bars, which are often connected by a still
darker dorso-lateral streak, enclosing large oval spots. On each side is
a series of large dark brown spots with light centres. On the tail the
markings become bolder, brick red with black and yellow. The under parts
are yellowish with black dots. This species rarely reaches a length of
more than 10 ft. It climbs well, prefers open forest in the
neighbourhood of water, is often found in plantations where it retires
into a hole in the ground, and lives chiefly on birds and small mammals.
Like most true boas, it is of a very gentle disposition and easily
domesticates itself in the palm or reed thatched huts of the natives,
where it hunts the rats during the night.

The term "boa" is applied by analogy to a long article of women's dress
wound round the neck.




BOABDIL (a corruption of the name Abu Abdullah), the last Moorish king
of Granada, called _el chico_, the little, and also _el zogoybi_, the
unfortunate. A son of Muley Abu'l Hassan, king of Granada, he was
proclaimed king in 1482 in place of his father, who was driven from the
land. Boabdil soon after sought to gain prestige by invading Castile. He
was taken prisoner at Lucena in 1483, and only obtained his freedom by
consenting to hold Granada as a tributary kingdom under Ferdinand and
Isabella, king and queen of Castile and Aragon. The next few years were
consumed in struggles with his father and his uncle Abdullah ez Zagal.
In 1491 Boabdil was summoned by Ferdinand and Isabella to surrender the
city of Granada, and on his refusal it was besieged by the Castilians.
Eventually, in January 1492, Granada was surrendered, and the king spent
some time on the lands which he was allowed to hold in Andalusia.
Subsequently he crossed to Africa, and is said to have been killed in
battle fighting for his kinsman, the ruler of Fez. The spot from which
Boabdil looked for the last time on Granada is still shown, and is known
as "the last sigh of the Moor" (_el ultimo suspire del Moro_).

  See J.A. Conde, _Dominácion de los Arabes en España_ (Paris, 1840),
  translated into English by Mrs J. Foster (London, 1854-1855);
  Washington Irving, _The Alhambra_ (New York, ed. 1880).




BOADICEA, strictly BOUDICCA, a British queen in the time of the emperor
Nero. Her husband Prasutagus ruled the Iceni (in what is now Norfolk) as
an autonomous prince under Roman suzerainty. On his death (A.D. 61)
without male heir, his dominions were annexed, and the annexation was
carried out brutally. He had by his will divided his private wealth
between his two daughters and Nero, trusting thereby to win imperial
favour for his family. Instead, his wife was scourged (doubtless for
resisting the annexation), his daughters outraged, his chief tribesmen
plundered. The proud, fierce queen and her people rose, and not alone.
With them rose half Britain, enraged, for other causes, at Roman rule.
Roman taxation and conscription lay heavy on the province; in addition,
the Roman government had just revoked financial concessions made a few
years earlier, and L. Annaeus Seneca, who combined the parts of a
moralist and a money-lender, had abruptly recalled large loans made from
his private wealth to British chiefs. A favourable chance for revolt was
provided by the absence of the governor-general, Suetonius Paulinus, and
most of his troops in North Wales and Anglesey. All south-east Britain
joined the movement. Paulinus rushed back without waiting for his
troops, but he could do nothing alone. The Britons burnt the Roman
municipalities of Verulam and Colchester, the mart of London, and
several military posts, massacred "over 70,000" Romans and Britons
friendly to Rome, and almost annihilated the Ninth Legion marching from
Lincoln to the rescue. At last Paulinus, who seems to have rejoined his
army, met the Britons in the field. The site of the battle is unknown.
One writer has put it at Chester; others at London, where King's Cross
had once a narrow escape of being christened Boadicea's Cross, and
actually for many years bore the name of Battle Bridge, in supposed
reference to this battle. Probably, however, it was on Watling Street,
between London and Chester. In a desperate soldiers' battle Rome
regained the province. Boadicea took poison; thousands of Britons fell
in the fight or were hunted down in the ensuing guerrilla. Finally, Rome
adopted a kindlier policy, and Britain became quiet. But the scantiness
of Romano-British remains in Norfolk may be due to the severity with
which the Iceni were crushed.

  See Tacitus, _Annals_, xiv.; _Agric_. xv.; Dio lxii. The name Boudicca
  seems to mean in Celtic much the same as Victoria.     (F. J. H.)




BOAR (O. Eng. _bar_; the word is found only in W. Ger. languages, cf.
Dutch _beer_, Ger. _Eber_), the name given to the un-castrated male of
the domestic pig (q.v.), and to some wild species of the family _Suidae_
(see SWINE). The European wild boar (_Sus scrofa_) is distributed over
Europe, northern Africa, and central and northern Asia. It has long been
extinct in the British Isles, where it once abounded, but traces have
been found of its survival in Chartley Forest, Staffordshire, in an
entry of 1683 in an account-book of the steward of the manor, and it
possibly remained till much later in the more remote parts of Scotland
and Ireland (J.E. Harting, _Extinct British Animals_, 1880). The wild
boar is still found in Europe, in marshy woodland districts where there
is plenty of cover, and it is fairly plentiful in Spain, Austria, Russia
and Germany, particularly in the Black Forest.

From the earliest times, owing to its great strength, speed, and
ferocity when at bay, the boar has been one of the favourite beasts of
the chase. Under the old forest laws of England it was one of the
"beasts of the forest," and, as such, under the Norman kings the
unprivileged killing of it was punishable by death or the loss of a
member. It was hunted in England and in Europe on foot and on horseback
with dogs, while the weapon of attack was always the spear. In Europe
the wild boar is still hunted with dogs, but the spear, except when used
in emergencies and for giving the _coup de grâce_, has been given up for
the gun. It is also shot in great forest drives in Austria, Germany and
Russia. The Indian wild boar (_Sus cristatus_) is slightly taller than
_Sus scrofa_, standing some 30 to 40 in. at the shoulder. It is found
throughout India, Ceylon and Burma. Here the horse and spear are still
used, and the sport is one of the most popular in India. (See
PIG-STICKING.)

The boar is one of the four heraldic beasts of venery, and was the
cognizance of Richard III., king of England. As an article of food the
boar's head was long considered a special delicacy, and its serving was
attended with much ceremonial. At Queen's College, Oxford, the dish is
still brought on Christmas day in procession to the high-table,
accompanied by the singing of a carol.




BOARD (O. Eng. _bord_), a plank or long narrow piece of timber. The word
comes into various compounds to describe boards used for special
purposes, or objects like boards (drawing-board, ironing-board,
sounding-board, chess-board, cardboard, back-board, notice-board,
scoring-board). The phrase "to keep one's name on the boards," at
Cambridge University, signifies to remain a member of a college; at
Oxford it is "on the books." In bookbinding, pasteboard covers are
called boards. Board was early used of a table, hence such phrases as
"bed and board," "board and lodging"; or of a gaming-table, as in the
phrase "to sweep the board," meaning to pocket all the stakes, hence,
figuratively, to carry all before one. The same meaning leads to "Board
of Trade," "Local Government Board," &c.

From the meaning of border or side, and especially ship's side, comes
"sea-board," meaning sea-coast, and the phrases "aboard" (Fr. _abord_),
"over-board," "by the board"; similarly "weather-board," the side of a
ship which is to windward; "larboard and starboard" (the former of
uncertain origin, Mid. Eng. _laddeboard_ or _latheboard_; the latter
meaning "steering side," O. Eng. _steorbord_, the rudder of early ships
working over the steering side), signifying (to one standing at the
stern and looking forward) the left and right sides of the ship
respectively.




BOARDING-HOUSE, a private house in which the proprietor provides board
and lodging for paying guests. The position of a guest in a
boarding-house differs in English law, to some extent, on the one hand
from that of a lodger in the ordinary sense of the term, and on the
other from that of a guest in an inn. Unlike the lodger, he frequently
has not the exclusive occupation of particular rooms. Unlike the guest
in an inn, his landlord has no lien upon his property for rent or any
other debt due in respect of his board (_Thompson v. Lacy_, 1820, 3 B.
and Ald. 283). The landlord is under an obligation to take reasonable
care for the safety of property brought by a guest into his house, and
is liable for damages in case of breach of this obligation (_Scarborough
v. Cosgrove_, 1905, 2 K.B. 803). Again, unlike the innkeeper, a
boarding-house keeper does not hold himself out as ready to receive all
travellers for whom he has accommodation, for which they are ready to
pay, and of course he is entitled to get rid of any guest on giving
reasonable notice (see _Lamond v. Richard_, 1897, I Q.B. 541, 548). What
is reasonable notice depends on the terms of the contract; and, subject
thereto, the course of payment of rent is a material circumstance (see
LANDLORD AND TENANT). Apparently the same implied warranty of fitness
for habitation at the commencement of the tenancy which exists in the
case of furnished lodgings (see LODGER AND LODGINGS) exists also in the
case of boarding-houses; and the guest in a boarding-house, like a
lodger, is entitled to all the usual and necessary conveniences of a
dwelling-house.

The law of the United States is similar to English law.

Under the French Code Civil, claims for subsistence furnished to a
debtor and his family during the last year of his life by boarding-house
keepers (_maîtres de pension_) are privileged over the generality of
moveables, the privilege being exerciseable after legal expenses,
funeral expenses, the expenses of the last illness, and the wages of
servants for the year elapsed and what is due for the current year (art.
2101 (5)). Keepers of taverns (_aubergistes_) and hotels (_hôteliers_)
are responsible for the goods of their guests--the committal of which to
their custody is regarded as a deposit of necessity (_dépôt
nécessaire_). They are liable for the loss of such goods by theft,
whether by servants or strangers, but not where the loss is due to
_force majeure_ (arts. 1952-1954). Their liability for money and bearer
securities not actually deposited is limited to 1000 francs (law of 18th
of April 1889). These provisions are reproduced in substance in the
Civil Codes of Quebec (arts. 1814, 1815, 1994, 2006) and of St Lucia
(art. 1889). In Quebec, boarding-house keepers have a lien on the goods
of their guests for the value or price of any food or accommodation
furnished to them, and have also a right to sell their baggage and other
property, if the amount remains unpaid for three months, under
conditions similar to those imposed on innkeepers in England (art. 1816
A; and see INNS AND INNKEEPERS); also in the Civil Code of St Lucia
(arts. 1578, 1714, 1715)     (A. W. R.)




BOARDING-OUT SYSTEM, in the English poor law, the boarding-out of orphan
or deserted children with suitable foster-parents. The practice was
first authorized in 1868, though for many years previously it had been
carried out by some boards of guardians on their own initiative.
Boarding-out is governed by two orders of the Local Government Board,
issued in 1889. The first permits guardians to board-out children within
their own union, except in the metropolis. The second governs the
boarding-out of children in localities outside the union. The sum
payable to the foster-parents is not to exceed 4s. per week for each
child. The system has been much discussed by authorities on the
administration of the poor law. It has been objected that few
working-men with an average-sized family can afford to devote such an
amount for the maintenance of each child, and that, therefore,
boarded-out children are better off than the children of the independent
(Fawcett, _Pauperism_). Working-class guardians, also, do not favour the
system, being suspicious as to the disinterestedness of the
foster-parents. On the other hand, it is argued that from the economic
and educational point of view much better results are obtained by
boarding-out children; they are given a natural life, and when they grow
up they are without effort merged in the general population (Mackay,
_Hist. Eng. Poor Law_). See also POOR LAW.

The "boarding-out" of lunatics is, in Scotland, a regular part of the
lunacy administration. It has also been successfully adopted in Belgium.
(See INSANITY.)




BOARDMAN, GEORGE DANA (1801-1831), American Baptist missionary, was born
at Livermore, Me., and educated at Waterville College and Andover
Theological Seminary. In 1825 he went to India as a missionary, and in
1827 to Burma, where his promising work among the Karens was cut short
by his early death. His widow married another well-known Burmese
missionary, Adoniram Judson.

His son, GEORGE DANA BOARDMAN, the younger (1828-1903), made the voyage
from Burma to America alone when six years of age. He graduated in 1852
at Brown University, and from the Newton Theological Institution in
1855. He held Baptist pastorates at Rochester (1856-1864), and at
Philadelphia, and was president of the American Baptist Missionary
Union, 1880-1884. At Philadelphia he is said to have taken his
congregation through every verse of the New Testament in 643 Wednesday
evening lectures, which occupied nearly eighteen years, and afterwards
to have begun on the Old Testament in similar fashion. Among his
published works are _Studies in the Model Prayer_ (1879), and
_Epiphanies of the Risen Lord_ (1879).




BOASE, HENRY SAMUEL (1799-1883), English geologist, the eldest son of
Henry Boase (1763-1827), banker, of Madron, Cornwall, was born in London
on the 2nd of September 1799. Educated partly at Tiverton
grammar-school, and partly at Dublin, where he studied chemistry, he
afterwards proceeded to Edinburgh and took the degree of M.D. in 1821.
He then settled for some years as a medical practitioner at Penzance;
there geology engaged his particular attention, and he became secretary
of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall. The results of his
observations were embodied in his _Treatise on Primary Geology_ (1834),
a work of considerable merit in regard to the older crystalline and
igneous rocks and the subject of mineral veins. In 1837 he removed to
London, where he remained for about a year, being elected F.R.S. In 1838
he became partner in a firm of bleachers at Dundee. He retired in 1871,
and died on the 5th of May 1883.




BOAT (O. Eng. _bát_; the true etymological connexion with Dutch and Ger.
_boot_, Fr. _bateau_, Ital. _battello_ presents great difficulties;
Celtic forms are from O. Eng.), a comparatively small open craft for
conveyance on water, usually propelled by some form of oar or sail.

The origin of the word "boat" is probably to be looked for in the A.S.
_bât_ = a stem, a stick, a piece of wood. If this be so, the term in its
inception referred to the material of which the primitive vessel was
constructed, and in this respect may well be contrasted with the word
"ship," of which the primary idea was the _process_ by which the
material was fashioned and adapted for the use of man.

We may assume that primitive man, in his earliest efforts to achieve the
feat of conveying himself and his belongings by water, succeeded in
doing so--(1) by fastening together a quantity of material of sufficient
buoyancy to float and carry him above the level of the water; (2) by
scooping out a fallen tree so as to obtain buoyancy enough for the same
purpose. In these two processes is to be found the genesis of both boat
and ship, of which, though often used as convertible terms, the former
is generally restricted to the smaller type of vessel such as is dealt
with in this article. For the larger type the reader is referred to
SHIP.

Great must have been the triumph of the man who first discovered that
the rushes or the trunks he had managed to tie together would, propelled
by a stick or a branch (cf. _ramus_ and _remus_) used as pole or paddle,
convey him safely across the river or lake, which had hitherto been his
barrier. But use multiplies wants, discovers deficiencies, suggests
improvements. Man soon found out that he wanted to go faster than the
raft would move, that the water washed over and up through it, and this
need of speed, and of dry carrying power, which we find operative
throughout the history of the boat down to the present day, drove him to
devise other modes of flotation as well as to try to improve his first
invention.

The invention of the hollowed trunk, of the "dug-out" (monoxylon),
however it came about, whenever and wherever it came into comparison
with the raft, must have superseded the latter for some purposes, though
not by any means for all. It was superior to the raft in speed, and was,
to a certain extent, water-tight. On the other hand it was inferior in
carrying power and stability. But the two types once conceived had come
to stay, and to them severally, or to attempts to combine the useful
properties of both, may be traced all the varieties of vessel to which
the name of boat may be applied.

The development of the raft is admirably illustrated in the description,
given us by Homer in the Odyssey, of the construction by the hero
Ulysses of a vessel of the kind. Floating timber is cut down and
carefully shaped and planed with axe and adze, and the timbers are then
exactly fitted face to face and compacted with trenails and dowels, just
as the flat floor of a lump or lighter might be fashioned and fitted
nowadays. A platform is raised upon the floor and a bulwark of osiers
contrived to keep out the wash of the waves (cf. _infra_, Malay boats).
It seems as if the poet, who was intimately acquainted with the sea ways
of his time, intended to convey the idea of progress in construction, as
illustrated by the technical skill of his hero, and the use of the
various tools with which he supplies him.

On the other hand the dug-out had its limitations. The largest tree that
could be thrown and scooped out afforded but a narrow space for carrying
goods, and presented problems as to stability which must have been very
difficult to solve. The shaping of bow and stern, the bulging out of the
sides, the flattening of the bottom, the invention of a keel piece, the
attempt to raise the sides by building up with planks, all led on
towards the idea of constructing a boat properly so called, or perhaps
to the invention of the canoe, which in some ways may be regarded as the
intermediate stage between dug-out and boat.

Meanwhile the raft had undergone improvements such as those which Homer
indicates. It had arrived at a floor composed of timbers squared and
shaped. It had risen to a platform, the prototype of a deck. It was but
a step to build up the sides and turn up the ends, and at this point we
reach the genesis of ark and punt, of sanpan and junk, or, in other
words, of all the many varieties of flat-bottomed craft.

When once we have reached the point at which the improvements in the
construction of the raft and dug-out bring them, as it were, within
sight of each other, we can enter upon the history of the development of
boats properly so called, which, in accordance with the uses and the
circumstances that dictated their build, may be said to be descended
from the raft or the dug-out, or from the attempt to combine the
respective advantages of the two original types.

Uses and circumstances are infinite in variety and have produced an
infinite variety of boats. But we may safely say that in all cases the
need to be satisfied, the nature of the material available, and the
character of the difficulties to be overcome have governed the reason
and tested the reasonableness of the architecture of the craft in use.

It is not proposed in this article to enter at any length into the
details of the construction of boats, but it is desirable, for the sake
of clearness, to indicate certain broad distinctions in the method of
building, which, though they run back into the far past, in some form or
other survive and are in use at the present day.

The tying of trunks together to form a raft is still not unknown in the
lumber trade of the Danube or of North America, nor was it in early days
confined to the raft. It extended to many boats properly so called, even
to many of those built by the Vikings of old. It may still be seen in
the Madras surf boats, and in those constructed out of driftwood by the
inhabitants of Easter Island in the south Pacific. Virgil, who was an
archaeologist, represents Charon's boat on the Styx as of this
construction, and notes the defect, which still survives, in the craft
of the kind when loaded--

                "Gemuit sub pondere cymba
  Sutilis, et multam accepit rimosa paludem!"
    _Aen._ vi. 303.

Next to the raft, and to be counted in direct descent from it, comes the
whole class of flat-bottomed boats including punts and lighters. As soon
as the method of constructing a solid floor, with trenails and dowels,
had been discovered, the method of converting it into a water-tight box
was pursued, sides were attached plank fashion, with strong knees to
stiffen them, and cross pieces to _yoke_ or _key_ (cf. [Greek: zugon,
klaeis]) them together. These thwarts once fixed naturally suggested
seats for those that plied the paddle or the oar. The ends of the vessel
were shaped into bow or stern, either turned up, or with the side
planking convergent in stem or stern post, or joined together fore and
aft by bulkheads fitted in, while interstices were made water-tight by
caulking, and by smearing with bitumen or some resinous material.

The evolution of the boat as distinct from the punt, or flat-bottomed
type, and following the configuration of the dug-out in its length and
rounded bottom, must have taxed the inventive art and skill of
constructors much more severely than that of the raft. It is possible
that the coracle or the canoe may have suggested the construction of a
framework of sufficient stiffness to carry a water-tight wooden skin,
such as would successfully resist the pressure of wind and water. And in
this regard two methods were open to the builder, both of which have
survived to the present day: (1) the construction first of the shell of
the boat, into which the stiffening ribs and cross ties were
subsequently fitted; (2) the construction first of a framework of
requisite size and shape, on to which the outer skin of the boat was
subsequently attached.

Further, besides the primitive mode of tying the parts together, two
main types of build must be noticed, in accordance with which a boat is
said to be either carvel-built or clinker-built. (1) A boat is
carvel-built when the planks are laid edge to edge so that they present
a smooth surface without. (2) A boat is clinker-built when each plank is
laid on so as to overlap the one below it, thus presenting a series of
ledges running longitudinally.

The former method is said to be of Mediterranean, or perhaps of Eastern
origin. The latter was probably invented by the old Scandinavian
builders, and from them handed down through the fishing boats of the
northern nations to our own time.


  Ancient boats.

The accounts of vessels used by the Egyptians and Phoenicians generally
refer to larger craft which naturally fall under the head of SHIP
(q.v.). The Nile boats, however, described by Herodotus (ii. 60),
built of acacia wood, were no doubt of various sizes, some of them quite
small, but all following the same type of construction, built up brick
fashion, the blocks being fastened internally to long poles secured by
cross pieces, and the interstices caulked with papyrus. The ends rose
high above the water, and to prevent hogging were often attached by a
truss running longitudinally over crutches from stem to stern.

The Assyrian and Babylonian vessels described by Herodotus (i. 194),
built up of twigs and boughs, and covered with skins smeared with
bitumen, were really more like huge coracles and hardly deserve the name
of boats.

The use of boats by the Greeks and Romans is attested by the frequent
reference to them in Greek and Latin literature, though, as regards such
small craft, the details given are hardly enough to form the basis of an
accurate classification.

We hear of small boats attendant on a fleet ([Greek: kelaetion], Thuc.
i. 53), and of similar craft employed in piracy (Thuc. iv. 9), and in
one case of a sculling boat, or pair oar ([Greek: akation amphaerikon],
Thuc. iv. 67), which was carted up and down between the town of Megara
and the sea, being used for the purpose of marauding at night. We are
also familiar with the passage in the Acts (xxvii.) where in the storm
they had hard work "to come by the boat"; which same boat the sailors
afterwards "let down into the sea, under colour as though they would
have cast anchors out of the foreship," and would have escaped to land
in her themselves, leaving the passengers to drown, if the centurion and
soldiers acting upon St Paul's advice had not cut off the ropes of the
boat and let her fall off.

There can be little doubt that boat races were in vogue among the Greeks
(see Prof. Gardner, _Journal of Hellenic Studies_, ii. 91 ff.), and
probably formed part of the Panathenaic and Isthmian festivals. It is,
however, difficult to prove that small boats took part in these races,
though it is not unlikely that they may have done so. The testimony of
the coins, such as it is, points to galleys, and the descriptive term
([Greek: neon amilla]) leads to the same conclusion.

It is hardly possible now to define the differences which separated
[Greek: akatos], [Greek: akation], from [Greek: kelaes], [Greek:
kelaetion], or from [Greek: lembos] or [Greek: karabos]. They seem all
to have been rowing boats, probably carvel-built, some with keels
(_acatii modo carinata_, Plin. ix. 19), and to have varied in size, some
being simply sculling boats, and others running up to as many as thirty
oars.

Similarly in Latin authors we have frequent mention of boats
accompanying ships of war. Of this there is a well-known instance in the
account of Caesar's invasion of Britain (_B.G._ iv. 26), when the boats
of the fleet, and the pinnaces, were filled with soldiers and sent to
assist the Legionaries who were being fiercely attacked as they waded on
to the shore. There is also an instance in the civil war, which is a
prototype of a modern attack of torpedo boats upon men of war, when
Antonius manned the pinnaces of his large ships to the number of sixty,
and with them attacked and defeated an imprudent squadron of Quadriremes
(_B.C._ iii. 24). The class of boats so frequently mentioned as
_actuariae_ seems to have contained craft of all sizes, and to have been
used for all purposes, whether as pleasure boats or as despatch vessels,
or for piracy. In fact the term was employed vaguely just as we speak of
craft in general.

The _lembus_, which is often referred to in Livy and Polybius, seems to
have been of Illyrian origin, with fine lines and sharp bows. The class
contained boats of various sizes and with a variable number of oars
(biremis, Livy xxiv. 40, sexdecim, Livy xxxiv. 35); and it is
interesting to note the origin in this case, as the invention of the
light Liburnian galleys, which won the battle of Actium, and altered the
whole system of naval construction, came from the same seaboard.

Besides these, the piratical _myoparones_ (see Cic. _In Verrem_), and
the poetical _phaselus_, deserve mention, but here again we are met with
the difficulty of distinguishing boats from ships. There is also an
interesting notice in Tacitus (_Hist_. iii. 47) of boats hastily
constructed by the natives of the northern coast of Asia Minor, which he
describes as of broad beam with narrow sides (probably meaning that the
sides "tumbled home"), joined together without any fastenings of brass
or iron. In a sea-way the sides were raised with planks added till they
were cased in as with a roof, whence their name _camarae_, and so they
rolled about in the waves, having prow and stern alike and convertible
rowlocks, so that it was a matter of indifference and equally safe, or
perhaps unsafe, whichever way they rowed.

Similar vessels were constructed by Germanicus in his north German
campaign (_Ann_. ii. 6) and by the Suiones (_Ger_. 44). These also had
stem and stern alike, and remind us of the old Norse construction, being
rowed either way, having the oars loose in the rowlock, and not, as was
usual in the south, attached by a thong to the thowl pin.

Lastly, as a class of boat directly descended from the raft, we may
notice the flat-bottomed boats or punts or lighters which plied on the
Tiber as ferry-boats, or carrying goods, which were called _codicariae_
from _caudex_, the old word for a plank.

It is difficult to trace any order of development in the construction of
boats during the Byzantine period, or the middle ages. Sea-going vessels
according to their size carried one or more boats, some of them small
boats with two or four oars, others boats of a larger size fitted with
masts and sail as well as with oars. We find _lembus_ and _phaselus_ as
generic names in the earlier period, but the indications as to size and
character are vague and variable. The same may be said of the _batelli,
coquets, chaloupes, chalans, gattes_, &c., of which, in almost endless
number and variety, the nautical erudition of M. Jal has collected the
names in his monumental works, _Archéologie navale_ and the _Glossaire
nautique_.

It is clear, however, that in many instances the names, originally
applied to boats properly so called, gradually attached themselves to
larger vessels, as in the case of _chaloupe_ and others, a fact which
leads to the conclusion that the type of build followed originally in
smaller vessels was often developed on a larger scale, according as it
was found useful and convenient, while the name remained the same. Many
of these types still survive and may be found in the Eastern seas, or in
the Mediterranean or in the northern waters, each of which has its own
peculiarities of build and rig.


  Existing types.

It would be impossible within our limits to do justice to the number and
variety of existing types in sea-going boats, and for more detailed
information concerning them the reader would do well to consult _Mast
and Sail in Europe and Asia_, by H. Warington Smyth, an excellent and
exhaustive work, from which much of the information which follows
regarding them has been derived.

In the Eastern seas the Chinese _sanpan_ is ubiquitous. Originally a
small raft of three timbers with fore end upturned, it grew into a boat
in very early times, and has given its name to a very large class of
vessels. With flat bottom, and considerable width in proportion to its
length, the normal sanpan runs out into two tails astern, the timbers
rounding up, and the end being built in like a bulkhead, with room for
the rudder to work between it and the transom which connects the two
projecting upper timbers of the stern. Some of them are as much as 30
ft. in length and 8 to 10 ft. in beam. They are good carriers and
speedy under sail.

The Chinese in all probability were the earliest of all peoples to solve
the chief problems of boat building, and after their own fashion to work
out the art of navigation, which for them has now been set and unchanged
for thousands of years. They appear to have used the lee-board and
centre-board in junks and sanpans, and to have extended their trade to
India and even beyond, centuries before anything like maritime
enterprise is heard of in the north of Europe.

As regards the practice of long boat racing on rivers or tidal waters
the Chinese are easily antecedent in time to the rest of the world. On
great festivals in certain places the Dragon boat race forms part of the
ceremony. The Dragon boats are just over 73 ft. long, with 4 ft. beam,
and depth 21 in. The rowing or paddling space is about 63 ft. and the
number of thwarts 27, thus giving exactly the same number of rowers as
that of the Zygites in the Greek trireme. The two extremities of the
boat are much cambered and rise to about 2 ft. above the water. At about
15 ft. from each end the single plank gives place to three, so as to
offer a concave surface to the water. The paddle blade is spade-like in
form and about 6½ in. broad.

Both in Siam and Burma there is a very large river population, and boat
racing is on festival days a common amusement. The typical craft,
however, is the Duck-boat, which in the shape of hull is in direct
contrast to the dug-out form, and primarily intended for sailing. It is
interesting to note that the Siamese method of slinging and using
quarter rudders is the oldest used by men in sailing craft, being in
fact the earliest development from the simple paddle rudder, which has
in all ages been the first method of steering boats. The king of Siam's
state barge, we are told, is steered by long paddles, precisely in the
same way as is figured in the case of the Egyptian boats of the 3rd
dynasty (6000 B.C.). On the other hand the slung quarter rudders are the
same in fashion as those used by Roman and Greek merchantmen, by
Norsemen and Anglo-Saxons, and by medieval seamen down to about the 14th
century.

The Malays have generally the credit of being expert boat-builders, but
the local conditions are not such as to favour the construction of a
good type of boat. "Small displacement, hollow lines, V-shaped sections,
shallow draught and lack of beam" result in want of stability and
weatherliness. But it is among them that the ancient process of dug-out
building still survives and flourishes, preserving all the primitive and
ingenious methods of hollowing the tree trunk, of forcing its sides
outwards, and in many cases building them up with added planks, so that
from the dug-out a regular boat is formed, with increased though limited
carrying power, increased though still hardly sufficient stability.

To ensure this last very necessary quality many devices and contrivances
are resorted to.

In some cases (just as Ulysses is described as doing by Homer, _Od_. v.
256) the boatman fastens bundles of reeds or of bamboos all along the
sides of his boat. These being very buoyant not only act as a defence
against the wash of the waves, but are sufficient to keep the boat
afloat in any sea.

But the most characteristic device is the outrigger, a piece of floating
wood sharpened at both ends, which is fixed parallel to the longer axis
of the boat, at a distance of two or three beams, by two or more poles
laid at right angles to it. This, while not interfering materially with
the speed of the boat, acts as a counterpoise to any pressure on it
which would tend, owing to its lack of stability, to upset it, and makes
it possible for the long narrow dug-out to face even the open sea. It is
remarkable that this invention, which must have been seen by the
Egyptians and Phoenicians in very early times, was not introduced by
them into the Mediterranean. Possibly this was owing to the lack of
large timber suitable for dug-outs, and the consequent evolution by them
of boat from raft, with sufficient beam to rely upon for stability.

On the other hand in the boats of India the influence of Egyptian and
Arab types of build is apparent, and the dinghy of the Hugli is cited
as being in form strangely like the ancient Egyptian model still
preserved in the Ghizeh museum. Coming westward the dominant type of
build is that of the Arab _dhow_, the boat class of which has all the
characteristics of the larger vessel developed from it, plenty of beam,
overhanging stem and transom stern. The planking of the shell over the
wooden frame has a double thickness which conduces to dryness and
durability in the craft.

On the Nile it is interesting to find the _naggar_ preserving, in its
construction out of blocks of acacia wood pinned together, the old-world
fashion of building described by Herodotus. The _gaiassa_ and _dahabiah_
are too large to be classed as boats, but they and their smaller sisters
follow the Arab type in build and rig.

It is noteworthy that nothing apparently of the ancient Egyptian or
classical methods of build survives in the Mediterranean, while the
records of the development of boat-building in the middle ages are
meagre and confusing. The best illustrations of ancient methods of
construction, and of ancient seamanship, are to be found, if anywhere,
in the East, that conservative storehouse of types and fashions, to
which they were either communicated, or from which they were borrowed,
by Egyptians or Phoenicians, from whom they were afterwards copied by
Greeks and Romans.

In the Mediterranean the chief characteristics of the types belonging to
it are "carvel-build, high bow, round stern and deep rudder hung on
stern post outside the vessel."

In the eastern basin the long-bowed wide-sterned _caique_ of the
Bosporus is perhaps the type of boat best known, but both Greek and
Italian waters abound with an unnumbered variety of boats of "beautiful
lines and great carrying power." In the Adriatic, the Venetian gondola,
and the light craft generally, are of the type developed from the raft,
flat-bottomed, and capable of navigating shallow waters with minimum of
draught and maximum of load.

In the western basin the majority of the smaller vessels are of the
sharp-sterned build. Upon the boats of the _felucca_ class, long vessels
with easy lines and low free-board, suitable for rowing as well as
sailing, the influence of the long galley of the middle ages was
apparent. In Genoese waters at the beginning of the 19th century there
were single-decked rowing vessels, which preserved the name of galley,
and were said to be the descendants of the Liburnians that defeated the
many-banked vessels of Antonius at Actium. But the introduction of steam
vessels has already relegated into obscurity these memorials of the
past.

Along the Riviera and the Spanish coast a type of boat is noticeable
which is peculiar for the inward curve of both stem and stern from a
keel which has considerable camber, enabling them to be beached in a
heavy surf.

On the Douro, in Portugal, it is said that the boats which may be seen
laden with casks of wine, trailing behind them an enormously long
steering paddle, are of Phoenician ancestry, and that the curious signs,
which many of them have painted on the cross board over the cabin, are
of Semitic origin though now undecipherable.

Coming to the northern waters, as with men, so with boats, we meet with
a totally different type. Instead of the smooth exterior of the
carvel-build, we have the more rugged form of clinker-built craft with
great beam, and raking sterns and stems, and a wide flare forward. In
the most northern waters the strakes of the sea-going boats are wide and
of considerable thickness, of oak or fir, often compacted with wooden
trenails, strong and fit to do battle with the rough seas and rough
usage which they have to endure.

In most of these the origin of form and character is to be sought for in
the old Viking vessels or long _keeles_ of the 5th century A.D., with
curved and elevated stem and stern posts, and without decks or, at the
most, half decked.

In the Baltic and the North Sea most of the fishing boats follow this
type, with, however, considerable variety in details. It is noticeable
that here also, as in other parts of the world, and at other times, the
pressing demand for speed and carrying power has increased the size in
almost all classes of boats till they pass into the category of ships.
At the same time the carvel-build is becoming more common, while, in the
struggle for life, steam and motor power are threatening to obliterate
the old types of rowing and sailing boats altogether.

Next to the Norse skiff and its descendants, perhaps the oldest type of
boat in northern waters is to be found in Holland, where the conditions
of navigation have hardly altered for centuries. It is to the Dutch that
we chiefly owe the original of our pleasure craft, but, though we have
developed these enormously, the Dutch boats have remained pretty much
the same. The clinker-build and the wide rounded bow are now very much
of the same character as they are represented in the old pictures of the
17th and 18th centuries.

The development of boat-building in the British Isles during the 19th
century has been unceasing and would need a treatise to itself to do it
justice. The expansion of the fishing industry and the pressure of
competition have stimulated constant improvement in the craft engaged,
and here also are observable the same tendencies to substitute carvel,
though it is more expensive, for clinker build, and to increase the
length and size of the boats, and the gradual supersession of sail and
oar by steam power. Under these influences we hear of the _fifie_ and
the _skaffie_ classes, old favourites in northern waters, being
superseded by the more modern _Zulu_, which is supposed to unite the
good qualities of both; and these in turn running to such a size as to
take them outside the category of boats. But even in the case of smaller
boats the _Zulu_ model is widely followed, so that they have actually
been imported to the Irish coast for the use of the crofter fishermen in
the congested districts.

For the Shetland _sexern_ and the broad boats of the Orkneys, and the
_nabbies_ of the west coast of Scotland, the curious will do well to
refer to H. Warington Smyth's most excellent account.

On the eastern coast of England the influence of the Dutch type of build
is manifest in many of the flat-bottomed and mostly round-ended craft,
such as the Yorkshire _Billyboy_, and partly in the _coble_, which
latter is interesting as built for launching off beaches against heavy
seas, and as containing relics of Norse influence, though in the main of
Dutch origin.

The life-boats of the eastern coast are in themselves an admirable class
of boat, with fine lines, great length, and shallow draught, wonderful
in their daring work in foul weather and heavy seas, in which as a rule
their services are required. Here, however, as in the fishing boats, the
size is increasing, and steam is appropriating to itself the provinces
of the sail and the oar.

The wherry of the Norfolk Broads has a type of its own, and is often
fitted out as a pleasure boat. It is safe and comfortable for inland
waters, but not the sort of boat to live in a sea-way in anything but
good weather.

The Thames and its estuary rejoice in a great variety of boats, of which
the old _Peter_ boat (so called after the legend of the foundation of
the abbey on Thorney Island) preserved a very ancient type of build,
shorter and broader than the old Thames pleasure wherry. But these and
the old _hatch_ boat have now almost disappeared. Possibly survivors may
still be seen on the upper part of the tidal river. Round the English
coast from the mouth of the Thames southwards the conditions of landing
and of hauling up boats above high-water mark affect the type, demanding
strong clinker-build and stout timbers. Hence there is a strong family
resemblance in most of the short boats in use from the North Foreland
round to Brighton. Among these are the life-boats of Deal and the other
Channel ports, which have done and are still doing heroic work in saving
life from wrecks upon the Goodwins and the other dangerous shoals that
beset the narrowing sleeve of the English Channel.

Farther down, along the southern coast, and to the west, where harbours
are more frequent, a finer and deeper class of boats, chiefly of
carvel-build, is to be found. The Cornish ports are the home of a great
boat-building industry, and from them a large number of the finest
fishing boats in the world are turned out annually. Most of them are
built with stem and stern alike, with full and bold quarters, and ample
floor.

It is not possible here to enumerate, much less to describe in detail,
the variety of types in sea-going boats which have been elaborated in
England and in America. For this purpose reference should be made to the
list of works given at the end of the article.

The following is a list of the boats at present used in the royal navy.
They have all of them a deep fore foot, and with the exception of the
whalers and Berthon boats, upright stems and transom sterns. The whalers
have a raking stem and a sharp stern, and a certain amount of sheer in
the bows.

                                            Length.   Beam.    Depth.
                                             Feet.   Ft. In.  Ft. In.
  1a. Dinghy. Freeboard about 9 in.
        Weight 3 cwt. 2 qr. Between
        thwarts 2 ft. 9 in. Elm.              13½     4' 8"    2' 2"
  1b. Skiff dinghy for torpedo boats.
        Freeboard about 9 in. Carry about
        ten men in moderate weather.
        Between thwarts 2 ft. 7½ in.
        Weight 3 cwt. 4 lb. Yellow pine.      16      4' 6"    1' 10"
  2a. Whaler for destroyers. 5 in. sheer.
        Yellow pine.                          25      5' 6"    2'
  2b. Whaler. Between thwarts 2 ft. 10 in.
        Freeboard about 12 in. Weight,
        8 cwt. Strakes No. 13. Lap
        ¾ in. Elm.                            27      5' 6"    2' 2"
    (All have bilge strakes with hand-holes.)
  3. Gig. Between thwarts 2 ft. 9½ in.
       Weight 8 cwt. 2 qr. 15 lb. 13
       Strakes. Elm.                          30      5' 6"    2' 2"
  4. Cutter. Between thwarts 3 ft. 1 in.
       To carry 49 men. Carvel built.         30      8' 1"    2' 8½"
  5. Pinnace. Between thwarts 3 ft.
       Carvel-built. Elm.                     36     10' 2"    3' 5"
  6. Launch. Between thwarts 3 ft. 1 in.
       To carry 140 men. Double skin
       diagonal. Teak.                        42     11' 6"    4' 6"
  7. Berthon collapsible boats weighing
       7 cwt. for destroyers.

With the exception of the larger classes, viz. cutters, pinnaces and
launches, the V-shape of bottom is still preserved, which does not tend
to stability, and it is difficult to see why the smaller classes have
not followed the improvement made in their larger sisters.


  Pleasure boats and racing.

Though the number and variety of sea-going boats is of much greater
importance, no account of boats in general would be complete without
reference to the development of pleasure craft upon rivers and inland
waters, especially in England, during the past century. There is a
legend, dating from Saxon times, which tells of King Edgar the Peaceable
being rowed on the Dee from his palace in Chester to the church of St
John, by eight kings, himself the ninth, steering this ancient 8-oar;
but not much is heard of rowing in England until 1453, when John Norman,
lord mayor of London, set the example of going by water to Westminster,
which, we are told, made him popular with the watermen of his day, as in
consequence the use of pleasure boats by the citizens became common.
Thus it was that the old Thames pleasure wherry, with its high bows and
low sharp stern and V-shaped section, and the old skiff came into vogue,
both of which have now given way to boats, mostly of clinker-build, but
with rounder bottoms and greater depth, safer and more comfortable to
row in.

In 1715 Thomas Doggett (q.v.) founded a race which is still rowed in
peculiar sculling boats, straked, and with sides flaring up to the sill
of the rowlock. Strutt tells us of a regatta in 1775 in which watermen
contended in pair-oared boats or skiffs.

At the beginning of the 19th century numerous rowing clubs flourished on
the upper tidal waters of the Thames, and we hear of four-oared races
from Westminster to Putney, and from Putney to Kew, in what we should
now consider large and heavy boats, clinker-built, with bluff entry.

Longer boats, 8-oars, and 10-oars, seem to have been existent at the end
of the 18th century. Eton certainly had one 10-oar, and three 8-oars,
and two 6-oars, before 1811. The record of 8-oar races at Oxford begins
in 1815, at Cambridge in 1827. Pair-oar and sculling races in lighter
boats seem to have come in soon after 1820, and the first Oxford and
Cambridge eight-oared race was rowed in 1829, in which year also Eton
and Westminster contended at Putney.

Henley regatta was founded in 1839, and since that date the building of
racing boats, eights, fours, pairs, and sculling boats, has made great
progress. The products of the present time are such, in lightness of
build and swiftness of propulsion, as would have been thought impossible
between 1810 and 1830.

In the middle of the 19th century the long boats in use were mostly
clinker-built with a keel. At Oxford the torpids were rowed, as now, in
clinker-built craft, but the summer races were rowed in carvel-built
boats, which also had a keel.

In 1855 the first keelless 8-oar made its appearance at Henley, built by
Mat Taylor for the Royal Chester Rowing Club. The new type was
constructed on moulds, bottom upwards, a cedar skin bent and fitted on
to the moulds, and the ribs built in after the boat had been turned
over.

In 1857 Oxford rowed in a similar boat at Putney, 55 ft. long, 25 in.
beam. From that time the keelless racing boat has held its own, fours
and pairs and sculling boats all following suit. But with the
introduction of sliding seats racing eights have developed in length to
63 ft. or more, with considerable camber, and a beam of 23-24 in. There
are, however, still advocates of the shorter type with broader beam, and
it is noticeable that the Belgian boat that won the Grand Challenge at
Henley in 1906 did not exceed 60 ft. The boat in which Oxford won the
University race in 1901 was 56 ft. long with 27 in. of beam.

In sculling boats the acceptance of the Australian type of build has led
to the construction of a much shorter boat with broader beam than that
which was in vogue twenty years ago. The same tendency has not shown
itself so pronouncedly in pair oars, but will no doubt be manifest in
time as the build improves. In fact we may expect the controversy
between long and short racing boats, and the proper method of propelling
them respectively, to be carried a step farther. The tendency, with the
long slide, and long type of boat, is to try to avoid "pinch" by
adopting the scullers' method of easy beginning, and strong drive with
the legs, and sharp finish to follow, but it remains to be seen whether
superior pace is not to be obtained in a shorter boat by sharp beginning
at a reasonable angle to the boat's side, and a continuous drive right
out to the finish of the stroke.

Appended is a list of pleasure boats in use (1909) on the Thames, with
their measurements (in feet and inches).

    Class of Boat.       Length.         Beam.           Depth.

  Racing eight          56' to 63'    23" to 27"      9" to 10"
  Clinker eight         56' to 60'    24" to 27"      9" to 10"
  Clinker four          38' to 42'    23" to 24"      8" to 9"
  Tub fours             30' to 32'    3'8"-3'10"      13" from keel to
                                                        top of stem
  Outrigger pair        30' to 34'    14" to 16"      7" to 8"
  Outrigger sculls      25' to 30'    10" to 13"      5½" to 6"
  Coaching gigs         26' to 28'    3' to 3'4"      10½" to 14"
  Skiffs (Thames)       24' to 26'    3'9" to 4'      12"
  Skiffs (Eton)         27'           2'3"            9½"
  Gigs (pleasure)       24' to 36'    4'              15" to 16"
  Randans               27' to 30'    4' to 4'6"      13" from keel to
                                                        top of stem
  Whiffs                20' to 23'    1'4" to 1'6"    6" from keel to
                                                        top of stem
  Whiff Gigs            19' to 20'    2'8" to 2'10"   12" over all
  Punts racers          30' to 34'    1'3" to 1'6"    6" to 7"
    "   semi racers     28' to 30'    2'              9" to 10½"
    "   pleasure        26' to 28'    2'9" to 3'      12" to 13"

  AUTHORITIES.--For ancient boats: _Dict. Ant._, "Navis"; C. Torr,
  _Ancient Ships_; Smith, _Voyage and Shipwreck of St Paul_; Graser, _De
  re navali_; Breusing, _Die Nautik der Alten_; Contre-amiral Serre, _La
  Marine des anciens_; Jules Var, _L'Art nautique dans l'antiquité_.
  Medieval: Jal, _Archéologie navale_, and _Glossaire nautique_; Marquis
  de Folin, _Bateaux et navires, progrès de la construction navale_;
  W.S. Lindsay, _History of Merchant Shipping and Ancient Commerce_.
  Modern: H. Warington Smyth, _Mast and Sail in Europe and Asia_; Dixon
  Kempe, _Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing_; H.C. Folkhard, _The Sailing
  Boat_; F.G. Aflato, _The Sea Fishing Industry of England and Wales_;
  R.C. Leslie, _Old Sea Wings_, &c.     (E. Wa.)




BOATSWAIN (pronounced "bo'sun"; derived from "boat" and "swain," a
servant), the warrant officer of the navy who in sailing-ships had
particular charge of the boats, sails, rigging, colours, anchors and
cordage. He superintended the rigging of the ship in dock, and it was
his duty to summon the crew to work by a whistle. The office still
remains, though with functions modified by the introduction of steam. In
a merchant ship the boatswain is the foreman of the crew and is
sometimes also third or fourth mate.




BOBBILI, a town of British India, in the Vizagapatam district of Madras,
70 m. north of Vizagapatam town. Pop. (1901) 17,387. It is the residence
of a raja of old family, whose estate covers an area of 227 sq. m.;
estimated income, £40,000; permanent land revenue, £9000.

The attack on the fort at Bobbili made by General Bussy in 1756 is one
of the most memorable episodes in Indian history. There was a constant
feud between the chief of Bobbili and the raja of Vizianagram; and when
Bussy marched to restore order the raja persuaded him that the fault lay
with the chief of Bobbili and joined the French with 11,000 men against
his rival. In spite of the fact that the French field-pieces at once
made practicable breaches in the mud walls of the fort, the defenders
held out with desperate valour. Two assaults were repulsed after hours
of hand-to-hand fighting; and when, after a fresh bombardment, the
garrison saw that their case was hopeless, they killed their women and
children, and only succumbed at last to a third assault because every
man of them was either killed or mortally wounded. An old man, however,
crept out of a hut with a child, whom he presented to Bussy as the son
of the dead chief. Three nights later four followers of the chief of
Bobbili crept into the tent of the raja of Vizianagram and stabbed him
to death. The child, Chinna Ranga Rao, was invested by Bussy with his
father's estate, but during his minority it was seized by his uncle.
After a temporary arrangement of terms with the raja of Vizianagram the
old feud broke out again, and the Bobbili chief was forced to take
refuge in the nizam's country. In 1794, however, on the break-up of the
Vizianagram estate, Chinna Ranga Rao was restored by the British, and in
1801 a permanent settlement was made with his son. The title of raja was
recognized as hereditary in the family; that of maharaja was conferred
as a personal distinction on Sir Venkataswetachalapati Ranga Rao,
K.C.I.E., the adopted great-great-grandson of Chinna Ranga Rao.

  For the siege see _Imp. Gazetteer of India_ (Oxford, 1908), s.v.
  "Bobbili Estate."




BOBBIO, a town and episcopal see of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of
Pavia, 32½ m. S.W. of Piacenza by road. Pop. (1901) 4848. Its most
important building is the church dedicated to St Columban, who became
first abbot of Bobbio in 595 or 612, and died there in 615. It was
erected in Lombard style in the 11th or 12th century (to which period
the campanile belongs) and restored in the 13th. The cathedral is also
interesting. Bobbio was especially famous for the manuscripts which
belonged to the monastery of St Columban, and are now dispersed, the
greater part being in the Vatican library at Rome, and others at Milan
and Turin. The cathedral archives contain documents of the 10th and 11th
centuries.

  See M. Stokes, _Six Months in the Apennines_ (London, 1892), 154 seq.;
  C. Cipolla, in _L'Arte_ (1904), 241.




BOBER, a river of Germany, the most considerable of the left bank
tributaries of the Oder; it rises at an altitude of 2440 ft., on the
northern (Silesian) side of the Riesengebirge. In its upper course it
traverses a higher plateau, whence, after passing the town of Landeshut,
it descends through a narrow and fertile valley to Kupferberg. Here its
romantic middle course begins, and after dashing through a deep ravine
between the towns of Hirschberg and Löwenberg, it gains the plain. In
its lower course it meanders through pleasant pastures, bogland and pine
forests in succession, receives the waters of various mountain streams,
passes close by Bunzlau and through Sagan, and finally, after a course
of 160 m., joins the Oder at Crossen. Swollen by the melting of the
winter snows and by heavy rains in the mountains, it is frequently a
torrent, and is thus, except in the last few miles, unnavigable for
either boats or rafts.




BOBRUISK, a town and formerly a first-class fortress of Russia, in the
government of Minsk, and 100 m. by rail S.E. of the town of Minsk, in
53° 15' N. lat. and 28° 52' E. long., on the right bank of the Berezina
river, and on the railway from Libau and Vilna to Ekaterinoslav. Pop.
(1860) 23,761; (1897) 35,177, of whom one-half were Jews. In the reign
of Alexander I. there was erected here, at the confluence of the
Bobruiska with the Berezina, nearly a mile from the town, a fort, which
successfully withstood a bombardment by Napoleon in 1812, and was made
equal to the best in Europe by the emperor Nicholas I. It was demolished
in 1897, the defences being antiquated. The town has a military hospital
and a departmental college. There are ironworks and flour-mills; and
corn and timber are shipped to Libau. The town was half burnt down in
1902.




BOCAGE, MANUEL MARIA BARBOSA DE (1765-1805), Portuguese poet, was a
native of Setubal. His father had held important judicial and
administrative appointments, and his mother, from whom he took his last
surname, was the daughter of a Portuguese vice-admiral of French birth
who had fought at the battle of Matapan. Bocage began to make verses in
infancy, and being somewhat of a prodigy grew up to be flattered,
self-conscious and unstable. At the age of fourteen, he suddenly left
school and joined the 7th infantry regiment; but tiring of garrison life
at Setubal after two years, he decided to enter the navy. He proceeded
to the royal marine academy in Lisbon, but instead of studying he
pursued love adventures, and for the next five years burnt incense on
many altars, while his retentive memory and extraordinary talent for
improvisation gained him a host of admirers and turned his head. The
Brazilian _modinhas_, little rhymed poems sung to a guitar at family
parties, were then in great vogue, and Bocage added to his fame by
writing a number of these, by his skill in extemporizing verses on a
given theme, and by allegorical idyllic pieces, the subjects of which
are similar to those of Watteau's and Boucher's pictures. In 1786 he was
appointed _guardamarinha_ in the Indian navy, and he reached Goa by way
of Brazil in October. There he came into an ignorant society full of
petty intrigue, where his particular talents found no scope to display
themselves; the glamour of the East left him unmoved and the climate
brought on a serious illness. In these circumstances he compared the
heroic traditions of Portugal in Asia, which had induced him to leave
home, with the reality, and wrote his satirical sonnets on "The
Decadence of the Portuguese Empire in Asia," and those addressed to
Affonso de Albuquerque and D. João de Castro. The irritation caused by
these satires, together with rivalries in love affairs, made it
advisable for him to leave Goa, and early in 1789 he obtained the post
of lieutenant of the infantry company at Damaun; but he promptly
deserted and made his way to Macao, where he arrived in July-August.
According to a modern tradition much of the _Lusiads_ had been written
there, and Bocage probably travelled to China under the influence of
Camoens, to whose life and misfortunes he loved to compare his own.
Though he escaped the penalty of his desertion, he had no resources and
lived on friends, whose help enabled him to return to Lisbon in the
middle of the following year.

Once back in Portugal he found his old popularity, and resumed his
vagabond existence. The age was one of reaction against the Pombaline
reforms, and the famous intendant of police, Manique, in his
determination to keep out French revolutionary and atheistic propaganda,
forbade the importation of foreign classics and the discussion of all
liberal ideas. Hence the only vehicle of expression left was satire,
which Bocage employed with an unsparing hand. His poverty compelled him
to eat and sleep with friends like the turbulent friar José Agostinho de
Macedo (q.v.), and he soon fell under suspicion with Manique. He became
a member of the New Arcadia, a literary society founded in 1790, under
the name of Elmano Sadino, but left it three years later. Though
including in its ranks most of the poets of the time, the New Arcadia
produced little of real merit, and before long its adherents became
enemies and descended to an angry warfare of words. But Bocage's
reputation among the general public and with foreign travellers grew
year by year. Beckford, the author of _Vathek_, for instance, describes
him as "a pale, limber, odd-looking young man, the queerest but perhaps
the most original of God's poetical creatures. This strange and
versatile character may be said to possess the true wand of enchantment
which at the will of its master either animates or petrifies." In 1797
enemies of Bocage belonging to the New Arcadia delated him to Manique,
who on the pretext afforded by some anti-religious verses, the _Epistola
á Marilia_, and by his loose life, arrested him when he was about to
flee the country and lodged him in the Limoeiro, where he spent his
thirty-second birthday. His sufferings induced him to a speedy
recantation, and after much importuning of friends, he obtained his
transfer in November from the state prison to that of the Inquisition,
then a mild tribunal, and shortly afterwards recovered his liberty. He
returned to his bohemian life and subsisted by writing empty _Elogios
Dramaticos_ for the theatres, printing volumes of verses and translating
the didactic poems of Delille, Castel and others, some second-rate
French plays and Ovid's _Metamorphoses_. These resources and the help of
brother Freemasons just enabled him to exist, and a purifying influence
came into his life in the shape of a real affection for the two
beautiful daughters of D. Antonio Bersane Leite, which drew from him
verses of true feeling mixed with regrets for the past. He would have
married the younger lady, D. Anna Perpetua (Analia), but excesses had
ruined his health. In 1801 his poetical rivalry with Macedo became more
acute and personal, and ended by drawing from Bocage a stinging
extempore poem, _Pena de Talião_, which remains a monument to his powers
of invective. In 1804 the malady from which he suffered increased, and
the approach of death inspired some beautiful sonnets, including one
directed to D. Maria (_Marcia_), elder sister of Analia, who visited and
consoled him. He became reconciled to his enemies, and breathed his last
on the 21st of December 1805. His end recalled that of Camoens, for he
expired in poverty on the eve of the French invasion, while the singer
of the _Lusiads_ just failed to see the occupation of Portugal by the
duke of Alva's army. The gulf that divides the life and achievements of
these two poets is accounted for, less by difference of talent and
temperament than by their environment, and it gives an accurate measure
of the decline of Portugal in the two centuries that separate 1580 from
1805.

To Beckford, Bocage was "a powerful genius," and Link was struck by his
nervous expression, harmonious versification and the fire of his poetry.
He employed every variety of lyric and made his mark in all. His
roundels are good, his epigrams witty, his satires rigorous and
searching, his odes often full of nobility, but his fame must rest on
his sonnets, which almost rival those of Camoens in power, elevation of
thought and tender melancholy, though they lack the latter's scholarly
refinement of phrasing. So dazzled were contemporary critics by his
brilliant and inspired extemporizations that they ignored Bocage's
licentiousness, and overlooked the slightness of his creative output and
the artificial character of most of his poetry. In 1871 a monument was
erected to the poet in the chief square of Setubal, and the centenary of
his death was kept there with much circumstance in 1905.

  The best editions of his collected works are those of I.F. da Silva,
  with a biographical and literary study by Rebello da Silva, in 6 vols.
  (Lisbon, 1853), and of Dr Theophilo Braga, in 8 vols. (Oporto,
  1875-1876). See also I.F. da Silva _Diccionario Bibliographico
  Portuguez_, vol. vi. pp. 45-53, and vol. xvi. pp. 260-264; Dr T.
  Braga, _Bocage, sua vida e epoca litteraria_ (Oporto, 1902). A
  striking portrait of Bocage by H.J. da Silva was engraved by
  Bartolozzi, who spent his last years in Lisbon.     (E. Pr.)




BOCAGE (from O. Fr. _boscage_, Late Lat. _boscum_, a wood), a French
topographical term applied to several regions of France, the commonest
characteristics of which are a granite formation and an undulating or
hilly surface, consisting largely of heath or reclaimed land, and dotted
with clumps of trees. The most important districts designated by the
word are (1) the Bocage of Normandy, which comprises portions of the
departments of Calvados, Manche and Orne; (2) the Bocage of Vendée,
situated in the departments of Vendée, Deux-Sèvres, Maine-et-Loire, and
Loire-Inférieure.




BOCCACCIO, GIOVANNI (1313-1375), Italian author, whose _Decameron_ is
one of the classics of literature, was born in 1313, as we know from a
letter of Petrarch, in which that poet, who was born in 1304, calls
himself the senior of his friend by nine years. The place of his birth
is somewhat doubtful--Florence, Paris and Certaldo being all mentioned
by various writers as his native city. Boccaccio undoubtedly calls
himself a Florentine, but this may refer merely to the Florentine
citizenship acquired by his grandfather. The claim of Paris has been
supported by Baldelli and Tiraboschi, mainly on the ground that his
mother was a lady of good family in that city, where she met Boccaccio's
father. There is a good deal in favour of Certaldo, a small town or
castle in the valley of the Elsa, 20 m. from Florence, where the family
had some property, and where the poet spent much of the latter part of
his life. He always signed his name Boccaccio da Certaldo, and named
that town as his birthplace in his own epitaph. Petrarch calls his
friend Certaldese; and Filippo Villani, a contemporary, distinctly says
that Boccaccio was born in Certaldo.

Boccaccio, an illegitimate son, as is put beyond dispute by the fact
that a special licence had to be obtained when he desired to become a
priest, was brought up with tender care by his father, who seems to have
been a merchant of respectable rank. His elementary education he
received from Giovanni da Strada, an esteemed teacher of grammar in
Florence. But at an early age he was apprenticed to an eminent merchant,
with whom he remained for six years, a time entirely lost to him, if we
may believe his own statement. For from his tenderest years his soul was
attached to that "_alma poesis_," which, on his tombstone, he names as
the task and study of his life. In one of his works he relates that, in
his seventh year, before he had ever seen a book of poetry or learned
the rules of metrical composition, he began to write verse in his
childish fashion, and earned for himself amongst his friends the name of
"the poet." It is uncertain where Boccaccio passed these six years of
bondage; most likely he followed his master to various centres of
commerce in Italy and France. We know at least that he was in Naples and
Paris for some time, and the youthful impressions received in the latter
city, as well as the knowledge of the French language acquired there,
were of considerable influence on his later career. Yielding at last to
his son's immutable aversion to commerce, the elder Boccaccio permitted
him to adopt a course of study somewhat more congenial to the literary
tastes of the young man. He was sent to a celebrated professor of canon
law, at that time an important field of action both to the student and
the practical jurist. According to some accounts--far from authentic, it
is true--this professor was Cino da Pistoia, the friend of Dante, and
himself a celebrated poet and scholar. But, whoever he may have been,
Boccaccio's master was unable to inspire his pupil with scientific
ardour. "Again," Boccaccio says, "I lost nearly six years. And so
nauseous was this study to my mind, that neither the teaching of my
master, nor the authority and command of my father, nor yet the
exertions and reproof of my friends, could make me take to it, for my
love of poetry was invincible."

About 1333 Boccaccio settled for some years at Naples, apparently sent
there by his father to resume his mercantile pursuits, the canon law
being finally abandoned. The place, it must be confessed, was little
adapted to lead to a practical view of life one in whose heart the love
of poetry was firmly rooted. The court of King Robert of Anjou at Naples
was frequented by many Italian and French men of letters, the great
Petrarch amongst the number. At the latter's public examination in the
noble science of poetry by the king, previous to his receiving the
laurel crown at Rome, Boccaccio was present,--without, however, making
his personal acquaintance at this period. In the atmosphere of this gay
court, enlivened and adorned by the wit of men and the beauty of women,
Boccaccio lived for several years. We can imagine how the tedious duties
of the market and the counting-house became more and more distasteful
to his aspiring nature. We are told that, finding himself by chance on
the supposed grave of Virgil, near Naples, Boccaccio on that sacred spot
took the firm resolution of devoting himself for ever to poetry. But
perhaps another event, which happened some time after, led quite as much
as the first-mentioned occurrence to this decisive turning-point in his
life. On Easter-eve, 1341, in the church of San Lorenzo, Boccaccio saw
for the first time the natural daughter of King Robert, Maria, whom he
immortalized as Fiammetta in the noblest creations of his muse.
Boccaccio's passion on seeing her was instantaneous, and (if we may
accept as genuine the confessions contained in one of her lover's works)
was returned with equal ardour on the part of the lady. But not till
after much delay did she yield to the amorous demands of the poet, in
spite of her honour and her duty as the wife of another. All the
information we have with regard to Maria or Fiammetta is derived from
the works of Boccaccio himself, and owing to several apparently
contradictory statements occurring in these works, the very existence of
the lady has been doubted by commentators, who seem to forget that,
surrounded by the chattering tongues of a court, and watched perhaps by
a jealous husband, Boccaccio had all possible reason to give the
appearance of fictitious incongruity to the effusions of his real
passion. But there seems no more reason to call into question the main
features of the story, or even the identity of the person, than there
would be in the case of Petrarch's Laura or of Dante's Beatrice. It has
been ingeniously pointed out by Baldelli, that the fact of her descent
from King Robert being known only to Maria herself, and through her to
Boccaccio, the latter was the more at liberty to refer to this
circumstance,--the bold expression of the truth serving in this case to
increase the mystery with which the poets of the middle ages loved, or
were obliged, to surround the objects of their praise. From Boccaccio's
_Ameto_ we learn that Maria's mother was, like his own, a French lady,
whose husband, according to Baldelli's ingenious conjecture, was of the
noble house of Aquino, and therefore of the same family with the
celebrated Thomas Aquinas. Maria died, according to his account, long
before her lover, who cherished her memory to the end of his life, as we
see from a sonnet written shortly before his death.

The first work of Boccaccio, composed by him at Fiammetta's command, was
the prose tale, _Filocopo_, describing the romantic love and adventures
of Florio and Biancafiore, a favourite subject with the knightly
minstrels of France, Italy and Germany. The treatment of the story by
Boccaccio is not remarkable for originality or beauty, and the narrative
is encumbered by classical allusions and allegorical conceits. The style
also cannot be held worthy of the future great master of Italian prose.
Considering, however, that this prose was in its infancy, and that this
was Boccaccio's first attempt at remoulding the unwieldy material at his
disposal, it would be unjust to deny that _Filocopo_ is a highly
interesting work, full of promise and all but articulate power. Another
work, written about the same time by Fiammetta's desire and dedicated to
her, is the _Teseide_, an epic poem, and indeed the first heroic epic in
the Italian language. The name is chosen somewhat inappropriately, as
King Theseus plays a secondary part, and the interest of the story
centres in the two noble knights, Palemone and Arcito, and their wooing
of the beautiful Emelia. The _Teseide_ is of particular interest to the
student of poetry, because it exhibits the first example of the _ottava
rima_, a metre which was adopted by Tasso and Ariosto, and in English by
Byron in _Don Juan_. Another link between Boccaccio's epic and English
literature is formed by the fact of Chaucer having in the _Knight's
Tale_ adopted its main features.

Boccaccio's poetry has been severely criticized by his countrymen, and
most severely by the author himself. On reading Petrarch's sonnets,
Boccaccio resolved in a fit of despair to burn his own attempts, and
only the kindly encouragement of his great friend prevented the
holocaust. Posterity has justly differed from the author's sweeping
self-criticism. It is true, that compared with Dante's grandeur and
passion, and with Petrarch's absolute mastership of metre and language,
Boccaccio's poetry seems to be somewhat thrown into shade. His verse is
occasionally slip-shod, and particularly his epic poetry lacks what in
modern parlance is called poetic diction,--the quality, that is, which
distinguishes the elevated pathos of the recorder of heroic deeds from
the easy grace of the mere _conteur_. This latter feature, so charmingly
displayed in Boccaccio's prose, has to some extent proved fatal to his
verse. At the same time, his narrative is always fluent and interesting,
and his lyrical pieces, particularly the poetic interludes in the
_Decameron_, abound with charming gallantry, and frequently rise to
lyrical pathos.

About the year 1341 Boccaccio returned to Florence by command of his
father, who in his old age desired the assistance and company of his
son. Florence, at that time disturbed by civil feuds, and the silent
gloom of his father's house could not but appear in an unfavourable
light to one accustomed to the gay life of the Neapolitan court. But
more than all this, Boccaccio regretted the separation from his beloved
Fiammetta. The thought of her at once embittered and consoled his
loneliness. Three of his works owe their existence to this period. With
all of them Fiammetta is connected; of one of them she alone is the
subject. The first work, called _Ameto_, describes the civilizing
influence of love, which subdues the ferocious manners of the savage
with its gentle power. Fiammetta, although not the heroine of the story,
is amongst the nymphs who with their tales of true love soften the mind
of the huntsman. _Ameto_ is written in prose alternating with verse,
specimens of which form occur in old and middle Latin writings. It is
more probable, however, that Boccaccio adopted it from that sweetest and
purest blossom of medieval French literature, _Aucassin et Nicolette_,
which dates from the 13th century, and was undoubtedly known to him. So
pleased was Boccaccio with the idea embodied in the character of _Ameto_
that he repeated its essential features in the Cimone of his _Decameron_
(Day 5th, tale i.). The second work referred to is a poem in fifty
chapters, called _L'amorosa Visione_. It describes a dream in which the
poet, guided by a lady, sees the heroes and lovers of ancient and
medieval times. Boccaccio evidently has tried to imitate the celebrated
_Trionfi_ of Petrarch, but without much success. There is little organic
development in the poem, which reads like the _catalogue raisonné_ of a
picture gallery; but it is remarkable from another point of view. It is
perhaps the most astounding instance in literature of ingenuity wasted
on trifles; even Edgar Poe, had he known Boccaccio's puzzle, must have
confessed himself surpassed. For the whole of the _Amorosa Visione_ is
nothing but an acrostic on a gigantic scale. The poem is written, like
the _Divina Commedia_, in _terza rima_, and the initial letters of all
the triplets throughout the work compose three poems of considerable
length, in the first of which the whole is dedicated to Boccaccio's
lady-love, this time under her real name of Maria. In addition to this,
the initial letters of the first, third, fifth, seventh and ninth lines
of the dedicatory poem form the name of Maria; so that here we have the
acrostic in the second degree. No wonder that thus entrammelled the
poet's thought begins to flag and his language to halt. The third
important work written by Boccaccio during his stay at Florence, or soon
after his return to Naples, is called _L'amorosa Fiammetta_; and
although written in prose, it contains more real poetry than the
elaborate production just referred to. It purports to be Fiammetta's
complaint after her lover, following the call of filial duty, had
deserted her. Bitterly she deplores her fate, and upbraids her lover
with coldness and want of devotion. Jealous fears add to her torture,
not altogether unfounded, if we believe the commentators' assertion that
the heroine of _Ameto_ is in reality the beautiful Lucia, a Florentine
lady loved by Boccaccio. Sadly Fiammetta recalls the moments of former
bliss, the first meeting, the stolen embrace. Her narrative is indeed
our chief source of information for the incidents of this strange
love-story. It has been thought unlikely, and indeed impossible, that
Boccaccio should thus have become the mouthpiece of a real lady's real
passion for himself; but there seems nothing incongruous in the
supposition that after a happy reunion the poet should have heard with
satisfaction, and surrounded with the halo of ideal art, the story of
his lady's sufferings. Moreover, the language is too full of individual
intensity to make the conjecture of an entirely fictitious love affair
intrinsically probable. _L'amorosa Fiammetta_ is a monody of passion
sustained even to the verge of dulness, but strikingly real, and
therefore artistically valuable.

By the intercession of an influential friend, Boccaccio at last obtained
(in 1344) his father's permission to return to Naples, where in the
meantime Giovanna, grand-daughter of King Robert, had succeeded to the
crown. Being young and beautiful, fond of poetry and of the praise of
poets, she received Boccaccio with all the distinction due to his
literary fame. For many years she remained his faithful friend, and the
poet returned her favour with grateful devotion. Even when the charge of
having instigated, or at least connived at, the murder of her husband
was but too clearly proved against her, Boccaccio was amongst the few
who stood by her, and undertook the hopeless task of clearing her name
from the dreadful stain. It was by her desire, no less than by that of
Fiammetta, that he composed (between 1344 and 1350) most of the stories
of his _Decameron_, which afterwards were collected and placed in the
mouths of the Florentine ladies and gentlemen. During this time he also
composed the _Filostrato_, a narrative poem, the chief interest of
which, for the English reader, lies in its connexion with Chaucer. With
a boldness pardonable only in men of genius, Chaucer adopted the main
features of the plot, and literally translated parts of Boccaccio's
work, without so much as mentioning the name of his Italian source.

In 1350 Boccaccio returned to Florence, owing to the death of his
father, who had made him guardian to his younger brother Jacopo. He was
received with great distinction, and entered the service of the
Republic, being at various times sent on important missions to the
margrave of Brandenburg, and to the courts of several popes, both in
Avignon and Rome. Boccaccio boasts of the friendly terms on which he had
been with the great potentates of Europe, the emperor and pope amongst
the number. But he was never a politician in the sense that Dante and
Petrarch were. As a man of the world he enjoyed the society of the
great, but his interest in the internal commotions of the Florentine
state seems to have been very slight. Besides, he never liked Florence,
and the expressions used by him regarding his fellow-citizens betray
anything but patriotic prejudice. In a Latin eclogue he applies to them
the term "Batrachos" (frogs), by which, he adds parenthetically--_Ego
intelligo Florentinorum morem; loquacissimi enim sumus, verum in rebus
bellicis nihil valemus._ The only important result of Boccaccio's
diplomatic career was his intimacy with Petrarch. The first acquaintance
of these two great men dates from the year 1350, when Boccaccio, then
just returned to Florence, did all in his power to make the great poet's
short stay in that city agreeable. When in the following year the
Florentines were anxious to draw men of great reputation to their
newly-founded university, it was again Boccaccio who insisted on the
claims of Petrarch to the most distinguished position. He himself
accepted the mission of inviting his friend to Florence, and of
announcing to Petrarch at the same time that the forfeited estates of
his family had been restored to him. In this manner an intimate
friendship grew up between them to be parted only by death. Common
interests and common literary pursuits were the natural basis of their
friendship, and both occupy prominent positions in the early history of
that great intellectual revival commonly called the Renaissance.

During the 14th century the study of ancient literature was at a low ebb
in Italy. The interest of the lay world was engrossed by political
struggles, and the treasures of classical history and poetry were at the
mercy of monks, too lazy or too ignorant to use, or even to preserve
them. Boccaccio himself told that, on asking to see the library of the
celebrated monastery of Monte Cassino, he was shown into a dusty room
without a door to it. Many of the valuable manuscripts were mutilated;
and his guide told him that the monks were in the habit of tearing
leaves from the codices to turn them into psalters for children, or
amulets for women at the price of four or five _soldi_ apiece.
Boccaccio did all in his power to remove by word and example this
barbarous indifference. He bought or copied with his own hand numerous
valuable manuscripts, and an old writer remarks that if Boccaccio had
been a professional copyist, the amount of his work might astonish us.
His zealous endeavours for the revival of the all but forgotten Greek
language in western Europe are well known. The most celebrated Italian
scholars about the beginning of the 15th century were unable to read the
Greek characters. Boccaccio deplored the ignorance of his age. He took
lessons from Leone Pilato, a learned adventurer of the period, who had
lived a long time in Thessaly and, although born in Calabria, pretended
to be a Greek. By Boccaccio's advice Leone Pilato was appointed
professor of Greek language and literature in the university of
Florence, a position which he held for several years, not without great
and lasting benefit for the revival of classical learning. Boccaccio was
justly proud of having been intimately connected with the foundation of
the first chair of Greek in Italy. But he did not forget, in his
admiration of classic literature, the great poets of his own country. He
never tires in his praise of the sublime Dante, whose works he copied
with his own hand. He conjures his friend Petrarch to study the great
Florentine, and to defend himself against the charges of wilful
ignorance and envy brought against him. A life of Dante, and the
commentaries on the first sixteen cantos of the _Inferno_, bear witness
to Boccaccio's learning and enthusiasm.

In the chronological enumeration of our author's writings we now come to
his most important work, the _Decameron_, a collection of one hundred
stories, published in their combined form in 1353, although mostly
written at an earlier date. This work marks in a certain sense the rise
of Italian prose. It is true that Dante's _Vita Nuova_ was written
before, but its involved sentences, founded essentially on Latin
constructions, cannot be compared with the infinite suppleness and
precision of Boccaccio's prose. The _Cento Novelle Antiche_, on the
other hand, which also precedes the _Decameron_ in date, can hardly be
said to be written in artistic language according to definite rules of
grammar and style. Boccaccio for the first time speaks a new idiom,
flexible and tender, like the character of the nation, and capable of
rendering all the shades of feeling, from the coarse laugh of cynicism
to the sigh of hopeless love. It is by the name of "Father of Italian
Prose" that Boccaccio ought to be chiefly remembered.

Like most progressive movements in art and literature, Boccaccio's
remoulding of Italian prose may be described as a "return to nature." It
is indeed the nature of the Italian people itself which has become
articulate in the _Decameron_; here we find southern grace and elegance,
together with that unveiled _naïveté_ of impulse which is so striking
and so amiable a quality of the Italian character. The undesirable
complement of the last-mentioned feature, a coarseness and indecency of
conception and expression hardly comprehensible to the northern mind,
also appears in the _Decameron_, particularly where the life and
conversation of the lower classes are the subject of the story. At the
same time, these descriptions of low life are so admirable, and the
character of popular parlance rendered with such humour, as often to
make the frown of moral disgust give way to a smile.

It is not surprising that a style so concise and yet so pliable so
typical and yet so individual, as that of Boccaccio was of enormous
influence on the further progress of a prose in a manner created by it.
This influence has indeed prevailed down to the present time, to an
extent beneficial upon the whole, although frequently fatal to the
development of individual writers. Novelists like Giovanni Fiorentino or
Franco Sacchetti are completely under the sway of their great model; and
Boccaccio's influence may be discerned equally in the plastic fulness of
Machiavelli and in the pointed satire of Aretino. Without touching upon
the individual merits of Lasca, Bandello and other novelists of the
_cinque-cento_, it may be asserted that none of them created a style
independent of their great predecessor. One cannot indeed but acquiesce
in the authoritative utterance of the Accademia della Crusca, which
holds up the _Decameron_ as the standard and model of Italian prose.
Even the Della Cruscan writers themselves have been unable to deprive
the language wholly of the fresh spontaneity of Boccaccio's manner,
which in modern literature we again admire in Manzoni's _Promessi
sposi_.

A detailed analysis of a work so well known as the _Decameron_ would be
unnecessary. The description of the plague of Florence preceding the
stories is universally acknowledged to be a masterpiece of epic grandeur
and vividness. It ranks with the paintings of similar calamities by
Thucydides, Defoe and Manzoni. Like Defoe, Boccaccio had to draw largely
on hearsay and his own imagination, it being almost certain that in 1348
he was at Naples, and therefore no eye-witness of the scenes he
describes. The stories themselves, a hundred in number, range from the
highest pathos to the coarsest licentiousness. A creation like the
patient Griselda, which international literature owes to Boccaccio,
ought to atone for much that is morally and artistically objectionable
in the _Decameron_. It may be said on this head, that his age and his
country were not only deeply immoral, but in addition exceedingly
outspoken. Moreover, his sources were anything but pure. Most of his
improper stories are either anecdotes from real life, or they are taken
from the _fabliaux_ of medieval French poets. On comparing the latter
class of stories (about one-fifth of the whole _Decameron_) with their
French originals, one finds that Boccaccio has never added to, but has
sometimes toned down the revolting ingredients. Notwithstanding this, it
cannot be denied that the artistic value of the _Decameron_ is greatly
impaired by descriptions and expressions, the intentional licentiousness
of which is but imperfectly veiled by an attempt at humour.

Boccaccio has been accused of plagiarism, particularly by French
critics, who correctly state that the subjects of many stories in the
_Decameron_ are borrowed from their literature. A similar objection
might be raised against Chaucer, Shakespeare, Goethe (in _Faust_), and
indeed most of the master minds of all nations. Power of invention is
not the only nor even the chief criterion of a great poet. He takes his
subjects indiscriminately from his own fancy, or from the consciousness
of his and other nations. Stories float about in the air, known to all
yet realized by few; the poet gathers their _disjecta membra_ into an
organic whole, and this he inspires and calls into life with the breath
of his genius. It is in this sense that Boccaccio is the creator of
those innumerable beautiful types and stories, which have since become
household words amongst civilized nations. No author can equal him in
these contributions to the store of international literature. There are
indeed few great poets who have not in some way become indebted to the
inexhaustible treasure of Boccaccio's creativeness. One of the greatest
masterpieces of German literature, Lessing's _Nathan the Wise_, contains
a story from Boccaccio (_Decameron_, Day 1st, tale iii.), and the list
of English poets who have drawn from the same source comprises, among
many others, the names of Chaucer, Lydgate, Dryden, Keats and Tennyson.

For ten years Boccaccio continued to reside in Florence, leaving the
city only occasionally on diplomatic missions or on visits to his
friends. His fame in the meantime began to spread far and wide, and his
_Decameron_, in particular, was devoured by the fashionable ladies and
gentlemen of the age. About 1360 he seems to have retired from the
turbulent scenes of Florence to his native Certaldo, the secluded charms
of which he describes with rapture. In the following year took place
that strange turning-point in Boccaccio's career which is generally
described as his conversion. It seems that a Carthusian monk came to him
while at Certaldo charged with a posthumous message from another monk of
the same order, to the effect that if Boccaccio did not at once abandon
his godless ways in life and literature his death would ensue after a
short time. It is also mentioned that the revelation to the friar on his
deathbed of a secret known only to Boccaccio gave additional import to
this alarming information. Boccaccio's impressionable nature was deeply
moved. His life had been far from virtuous; in his writings he had
frequently sinned against the rules of morality, and worse still, he had
attacked with bitter satire the institutions and servants of holy mother
church. Terrified by the approach of immediate death, he resolved to
sell his library, abandon literature, and devote the remainder of his
life to penance and religious exercise. To this effect he wrote to
Petrarch. We possess the poet's answer; it is a masterpiece of writing,
and what is more, a proof of tenderest friendship. The message of the
monk Petrarch is evidently inclined to treat simply as pious fraud,
without, however, actually committing himself to that opinion. "No monk
is required to tell thee of the shortness and precariousness of human
life. Of the advice received accept what is good; abandon worldly cares,
conquer thy passions, and reform thy soul and life of degraded habits.
But do not give up the studies which are the true food of a healthy
mind." Boccaccio seems to have acted on this valuable advice. His later
works, although written in Latin and scientific in character, are by no
means of a religious kind. It seems, however, that his entering the
church in 1362 is connected with the events just related.

In 1363 Boccaccio went on a visit to Naples to the seneschal Acciajuoli
(the same Florentine who had in 1344 persuaded the elder Boccaccio to
permit his son's return to Naples), who commissioned him to write the
story of his deeds of valour. On his arrival, however, the poet was
treated with shameful neglect, and revenged himself by denying the
possibility of relating any valorous deeds for want of their existence.
This declaration, it must be confessed, came somewhat late, but it was
provoked by a silly attack on the poet himself by one of the seneschal's
indiscreet friends.

During the next ten years Boccaccio led an unsettled life, residing
chiefly at Florence or Certaldo, but frequently leaving his home on
visits to Petrarch and other friends, and on various diplomatic errands
in the service of the Republic. He seems to have been poor, having spent
large sums in the purchase of books, but his independent spirit rejected
the numerous splendid offers of hospitality made to him by friends and
admirers. During this period he wrote four important Latin works--_De
Genealogia Deorum libri XV._, a compendium of mythological knowledge
full of deep learning; _De Montium, Silvarum, Lacuum, et Marium
nominibus liber_, a treatise on ancient geography; and two historical
books--_De Casibus Virorum et Feminarum Illustrium libri IX._,
interesting to the English reader as the original of John Lydgate's
_Fall of Princes_; and _De Claris Mulieribus_. To the list of his works
ought to be added _Il Ninfale Fiesolano_, a beautiful love-story in
verse, and _Il Corbaccio ossia Il Laberinto d'Amore_, a coarse satire on
a Florentine widow who had jilted the poet, written about 1355, not to
mention many eclogues in Latin and miscellaneous _Rime_ in Italian (the
latter collected by his biographer Count Baldelli in 1802).

In 1373 we find Boccaccio again settled at Certaldo. Here he was
attacked by a terrible disease which brought him to the verge of death,
and from the consequences of which he never quite recovered. But
sickness could not subdue his intellectual vigour. When the Florentines
established a chair for the explanation of the _Divina Commedia_ in
their university, and offered it to Boccaccio, the senescent poet at
once undertook the arduous duty. He delivered his first lecture on the
23rd of October 1373. The commentary on part of the _Inferno_, already
alluded to, bears witness of his unabated power of intellect. In 1374
the news of the loss of his dearest friend Petrarch reached Boccaccio,
and from this blow he may be said to have never recovered. Almost his
dying efforts were devoted to the memory of his friend; urgently he
entreated Petrarch's son-in-law to arrange the publication of the
deceased poet's Latin epic _Africa_, a work of which the author had been
far more proud than of his immortal sonnets to Laura.

In his last will Boccaccio left his library to his father confessor, and
after his decease to the convent of Santo Spirito in Florence. His small
property he bequeathed to his brother Jacopo. His own natural children
had died before him. He himself died on the 21st of December 1375 at
Certaldo, and was buried in the church of SS. Jacopo e Filippo of that
town. On his tombstone was engraved the epitaph composed by himself
shortly before his death. It is calm and dignified, worthy indeed of a
great life with a great purpose. These are the lines:--

  "Hac sub mole jacent cineres ac ossa Joannis;
   Mens sedet ante Deum, meritis ornata laborum
   Mortalis vitae. Genitor Boccaccius illi;
   Patria Certaldum; studium fuit alma poesis."

  A complete edition of Boccaccio's Italian writings, in 17 vols., was
  published by Moutier (Florence, 1834). The life of Boccaccio has been
  written by Tiraboschi, Mazzuchelli, Count Baldelli (_Vita di
  Boccaccio_, Florence, 1806), and others. In English the best biography
  is Edward Hutton (1909.) The first printed edition of the _Decameron_
  is without date, place or printer's name; but it is believed to belong
  to the year 1469 or 1470, and to have been printed at Florence.
  Besides this, Baldelli mentions eleven editions during the 15th
  century. The entire number of editions by far exceeds a hundred. A
  curious expurgated edition, authorized by the pope, appeared at
  Florence, 1573. Here, however, the grossest indecencies remain, the
  chief alteration being the change of the improper personages from
  priests and monks into laymen. The best old edition is that of
  Florence, 1527. Of modern reprints, that by Forfoni (Florence, 1857)
  deserves mention. Manni has written a _Storia del Decamerone_ (1742),
  and a German scholar, M. Landau, who published (Vienna, 1869) a
  valuable investigation of the sources of the _Decameron_, subsequently
  brought out in 1877 a general study of Boccaccio's life and works. An
  interesting English translation of the _Decameron_ appeared in 1624,
  under the title _The Model of Mirth, Wit, Eloquence and Conversation_.
       (F. H.)




BOCCALINI, TRAJANO (1556-1613), Italian satirist, was born at Loretto in
1556. The son of an architect, he himself adopted that profession, and
it appears that he commenced late in life to apply to literary pursuits.
Pursuing his studies at Rome, he had the honour of teaching Bentivoglio,
and acquired the friendship of the cardinals Gaetano and Borghesi, as
well as of other distinguished personages. By their influence he
obtained various posts, and was even appointed by Gregory XIII. governor
of Benevento in the states of the church. Here, however, he seems to
have acted imprudently, and he was soon recalled to Rome, where he
shortly afterwards composed his most important work, the _Ragguagli di
Parnaso_, in which Apollo is represented as receiving the complaints of
all who present themselves, and distributing justice according to the
merits of each particular case. The book is full of light and fantastic
satire on the actions and writings of his eminent contemporaries, and
some of its happier hits are among the hackneyed felicities of
literature. To escape, it is said, from the hostility of those whom his
shafts had wounded, he returned to Venice, and there, according to the
register in the parochial church of Sta Maria Formosa, died of colic,
accompanied with fever, on the 16th of November 1613. It was asserted,
indeed, by contemporary writers that he had been beaten to death with
sand-bags by a band of Spanish bravadoes, but the story seems without
foundation. At the same time, it is evident from the _Pietra del
Paragone_, which appeared after his death in 1615, that whatever the
feelings of the Spaniards towards him, he cherished against them
feelings of the bitterest hostility. The only government, indeed, which
is exempt from his attacks is that of Venice, a city for which he seems
to have had a special affection.

  The _Ragguagli_, first printed in 1612, has frequently been
  republished. The _Pietra_ has been translated into French, German,
  English and Latin; the English translator was Henry, earl of Monmouth,
  his version being entitled _The Politicke Touchstone_ (London, 1674).
  Another posthumous publication of Boccalini was his _Commentarii sopra
  Cornelia Tacito_ (Geneva, 1669). Many of his manuscripts are preserved
  still unprinted.




BOCCHERINI, LUIGI (1743-1805), Italian composer, son of an Italian
bass-player, was born at Lucca, and studied at Rome, where he became a
fine 'cellist, and soon began to compose. He returned to Lucca, where
for some years he was prominent as a player, and there he produced two
oratorios and an opera. He toured in Europe, and in 1768 was received in
Paris by Gossec and his circle with great enthusiasm, his instrumental
pieces being highly applauded; and from 1769 to 1785 he held the post of
"composer and virtuoso" to the king of Spain's brother, the infante
Luis, at Madrid. He afterwards became "chamber-composer" to King
Frederick William II. of Prussia, till 1797, when he returned to Spain.
He died at Madrid on the 28th of May 1805.

As an admirer of Haydn, and a voluminous writer of instrumental music,
chiefly for the violoncello, Boccherini represents the effect of the
rapid progress of a new art on a mind too refined to be led into
crudeness, too inventive and receptive to neglect any of the new
artistic resources within its cognizance, and too superficial to grasp
their real meaning. His mastery of the violoncello, and his advanced
sense of beauty in instrumental tone-colour, must have made even his
earlier works seem to contemporaries at least as novel and mature as any
of those experiments at which Haydn, with eight years more of age and
experience, was labouring in the development of the true new forms. Most
of Boccherini's technical resources proved useless to Haydn, and
resemblances occur only in Haydn's earliest works (e.g. most of the
slow movements of the quartets in _op_. 3 and in some as late as _op_.
17); whichever derived the characteristics of such movements from the
other, the advantage is decidedly with Boccherini. But the progress of
music did not lie in the production of novel beauties of instrumental
tone in a style in which polyphonic organization was either deliberately
abandoned or replaced by a pleasing illusion, while the form in its
larger aspects was a mere inorganic amplification of the old
suite-forms, which presupposed a genuine polyphonic organization as the
vitalizing principle of their otherwise purely decorative nature. The
true tendency of the new sonata forms was to make instrumental music
dramatic in its variety and contrasts, instead of merely decorative.
Haydn from the outset buried himself with the handling of new rhythmic
proportions; and if it is hardly an exaggeration to say that the
surprising beauty of colour in such a specimen of Boccherini's 125
string-quintets as that in E major (containing the popular minuet) is
perhaps more modern and certainly safer in performance than any special
effect Haydn ever achieved, it is nevertheless true that even this
beauty fails to justify the length and monotony of the work. Where Haydn
uses any fraction of the resources of such a style, the ultimate effect
is in proportion to a purpose of which Boccherini, with all his genuine
admiration of his elder brother in art, could form no conception.
Boccherini's works are, however, still indispensable for violoncellists,
both in their education and their concert repertories; and his position
in musical history is assured as that of the most original and, next to
Tartini, perhaps the greatest writer of music for stringed instruments
in the late Italian amplifications of the older quasi-polyphonic sonata
or suite-form that survived into the beginning of the 19th century in
the works of Nardini. Boccherini may safely be regarded as its last real
master. He was wittily characterized by the contemporary violinist Puppo
as "the wife of Haydn"; which is very true, if man and woman are two
different species; but not as true as e.g. the equally common saying
that "Schubert is the wife of Beethoven," and still less true than that
"Vittoria is the wife of Palestrina."

  His life, with a _Catalogue raisonné_, was published by L. Picquot
  (1851).     (D. F. T.)




BOCCHUS, king of Mauretania (about 110 B.C.), and father-in-law of
Jugurtha. In 108 he vacillated between Jugurtha and the Romans, and
joined Jugurtha only on his promising him the third part of his kingdom.
The two kings were twice defeated. Bocchus again made overtures to the
Romans, and after an interview with Sulla, who was Marius's quaestor at
that time, sent ambassadors to Rome. At Rome the hope of an alliance was
encouraged, but on condition that Bocchus showed himself deserving of
it. After further negotiations with Sulla, he finally agreed to send a
message to Jugurtha requesting his presence. Jugurtha fell into the trap
and was given up to Sulla. Bocchus concluded a treaty with the Romans,
and a portion of Numidia was added to his kingdom. Further to conciliate
the Romans and especially Sulla, he sent to the Capitol a group of
Victories guarding a device in gold showing Bocchus handing over
Jugurtha to Sulla.

  See JUGURTHA; also Sallust, _Jugurtha_, 80-120; Plutarch, _Marius_,
  8-32, _Sulla_, 3; A.H.J. Greenidge, _History of Rome_ (London, 1904).

His son, BOCCHUS, was king of Mauretania, jointly with a younger
brother Bogud. As enemies of the senatorial party, their title was
recognized by Caesar (49 B.C.). During the African war they invaded
Numidia and conquered Cirta, the capital of the kingdom of Juba, who was
thus obliged to abandon the idea of joining Metellus Scipio against
Caesar. At the end of the war, Caesar bestowed upon Bocchus part of the
territory of Massinissa, Juba's ally, which was recovered after Caesar's
murder by Massinissa's son Arabion. Dio Cassius says that Bocchus sent
his sons to support Sextus Pompeius in Spain, while Bogud fought on the
side of Caesar, and there is no doubt that after Caesar's death Bocchus
supported Octavian, and Bogud Antony. During Bogud's absence in Spain,
his brother seized the whole of Numidia, and was confirmed sole ruler by
Octavian. After his death in 33, Numidia was made a Roman province.

  _Bell. Afric._ 25; Dio Cassius xli. 42, xliii. 36, xlviii. 45; Appian,
  _Bell. Civ._ ii. 96, iv. 54.




BOCHART, SAMUEL (1599-1667), French scholar, was born at Rouen on the
30th of May 1599. He was for many years a pastor of a Protestant church
at Caen, and became tutor to Wentworth Dillon, earl of Roscommon. In
1646 he published his _Phaleg_ and _Chanaan_ (Caen, 1646 and 1651), the
two parts of his _Geographia Sacra_. His _Hierozoicon_, which treats of
the animals of Scripture, was printed in London (2 vols., 1663). In 1652
Christina of Sweden invited him to Stockholm, where he studied the
Arabian manuscripts in the queen's possession. He was accompanied by
Pierre Daniel Huet, afterwards bishop of Avranches. On his return to
Caen he was received into the academy of that city. Bochart was a man of
profound erudition; he possessed a thorough knowledge of the principal
Oriental languages, including Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldaic and Arabic; and
at an advanced age he wished to learn Ethiopic. He was so absorbed in
his favourite study, that he saw Phoenician and nothing but Phoenician
in everything, even in Celtic words, and hence the number of chimerical
etymologies which swarm in his works. He died at Caen on the 16th of May
1667.

  A complete edition of his works was published at Leiden, under the
  title of _Sam. Bochart Opera Omnia_ (1675, 2 vols. folio; 4th ed., 3
  vols., 1712). An _Essay on the Life and Writings of Samuel Bochart_,
  by W.R. Whittingham, appeared in 1829.




BOCHOLT, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Westphalia, near
the frontier of Holland, 12 m. by rail north of Wesel. It is a seat of
the cotton industry. Pop. (1900) 21,278.




BOCHUM, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Westphalia, 11 m.
by rail west from Dortmund. Pop. (1905) 118,000. It is a centre of the
iron and steel industries, producing principally cast steel, cast iron,
iron pipes, wire and wire ropes, and lamps, with tin and zinc works,
coal-mining, factories for carpets, calcium carbide and paper-roofing,
brickworks and breweries. The Bochumer Verein für Bergbau (mining) und
Gusstahl Fabrication (steel manufacture) is one of the principal trusts
in this industry, founded in 1854. There are a mining and a
metallurgical school.




BÖCKH, PHILIPP AUGUST (1785-1867), German classical scholar and
antiquarian, was born in Karlsruhe on the 24th of November 1785. He was
sent to the gymnasium of his native place, and remained there until he
left for the university of Halle (1803), where he devoted himself to the
study of theology. F.A. Wolf was then creating there an enthusiasm for
classical studies; Böckh fell under the spell, passed from theology to
philology, and became the greatest of all Wolf's scholars. In 1807 he
established himself as privat-docent in the university of Heidelberg and
was shortly afterwards appointed a professor extraordinarius, becoming
professor two years later. In 1811 he removed to the new Berlin
University, having been appointed professor of eloquence and classical
literature. He remained there till his death on the 3rd of August 1867.
He was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences of Berlin in 1814,
and for a long time acted as its secretary. Many of the speeches
contained in his _Kleine Schriften_ were delivered in this latter
capacity.

Böckh worked out the ideas of Wolf in regard to philology, and
illustrated them by his practice. Discarding the old notion that
philology consisted in a minute acquaintance with words and the exercise
of the critical art, he regarded it as the entire knowledge of
antiquity, historical and philosophical. He divides philology into five
parts: first, an inquiry into public acts, with a knowledge of times and
places, into civil institutions, and also into law; second, an inquiry
into private affairs; third, an exhibition of the religions and arts of
the ancient nations; fourth, a history of all their moral and physical
speculations and beliefs, and of their literatures; and fifth, a
complete explanation of the language. These ideas in regard to philology
Böckh set forth in a Latin oration delivered in 1822 (_Gesammelte kleine
Schriften_, i.). In his speech at the opening of the congress of German
philologists in 1850, he defined philology as the historical
construction of the entire life--therefore, of all forms of culture and
all the productions of a people in its practical and spiritual
tendencies. He allows that such a work is too great for any one man; but
the very infinity of subjects is the stimulus to the pursuit of truth,
and men strive because they have not attained (_ib_. ii.). An account of
Böckh's division of philology will be found in Freund's _Wie studirt man
Philologie?_

From 1806 till his death Böckh's literary activity was unceasing. His
principal works were the following:--(1) An edition of Pindar, the first
volume of which (1811) contains the text of the Epinician odes; a
treatise, _De Metris Pindari_, in three books; and _Notae Criticae_: the
second (1819) contains the _Scholia_; and part ii. of volume ii. (1821)
contains a Latin translation, a commentary, the fragments and indices.
It is still the most complete edition of Pindar that we have. But it was
especially the treatise on the metres which placed Böckh in the first
rank of scholars. This treatise forms an epoch in the treatment of the
subject. In it the author threw aside all attempts to determine the
Greek metres by mere subjective standards, pointing out at the same time
the close connexion between the music and the poetry of the Greeks. He
investigated minutely the nature of Greek music as far as it can be
ascertained, as well as all the details regarding Greek musical
instruments; and he explained the statements of the ancient Greek
writers on rhythm. In this manner he laid the foundation for a
scientific treatment of Greek metres. (2) _Die Staatshaushaltung der
Athener_, 1817 (2nd ed. 1851, with a supplementary volume _Urkunden über
das Seewesen des attischen Staats_; 3rd ed. by Fränkel, 1886),
translated into English by Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1828) under the
title of _The Public Economy of Athens_. In it he investigated a subject
of peculiar difficulty with profound learning. He amassed information
from the whole range of Greek literature, carefully appraised the value
of the information given, and shows throughout every portion of it rare
critical ability and insight. A work of a similar kind was his
_Metrologische Untersuchungen über Gewichte, Münzfüsse, und Masse des
Alterthums_ (1838). (3) Böckh's third great work arose out of his
second. In regard to the taxes and revenue of the Athenian state he
derived a great deal of his most trustworthy information from
inscriptions, many of which are given in his book. It was natural,
therefore, that when the Berlin Academy of Sciences projected the plan
of a _Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum_, Böckh should be chosen as the
principal editor. This great work (1828-1877) is in four volumes, the
third and fourth volumes being edited by J. Franz, E. Curtius, A.
Kirchhoff and H. Röhl.

Böckh's activity was continually digressing into widely different
fields. He gained for himself a foremost position amongst the
investigators of ancient chronology, and his name occupies a place by
the side of those of Ideler and Mommsen. His principal works on this
subject were: _Zur Geschichte der Mondcyclen der Hellenen_ (1855);
_Epigraphisch-chronologische Studien_ (1856); _Über die vierjährigen
Sonnenkreise der Alten_ (1863), and several papers which he published in
the _Transactions of the Berlin Academy_. Böckh also occupied himself
with philosophy. One of his earliest papers was on the Platonic doctrine
of the world, _De Platonica corporis mundani fabrica_ (1809), followed
by _De Platonico Systemate Caelestium globorum et de vera Indole
Astronomiae Philolaice_ (1810), to which may be added _Manetho und die
Hundsternperiode_ (1845). In opposition to Otto Gruppe (1804-1876), he
denied that Plato affirmed the diurnal rotation of the earth
(_Untersuchungen über das kosmische System des Platon_, 1852), and when
in opposition to him Grote published his opinions on the subject (Plato
and the Rotation of the Earth) Böckh was ready with his reply. Another
of his earlier papers, and one frequently referred to, was _Commentatio
Academica de simultate quae Platoni cum Xenophonte intercessisse fertur_
(1811). Other philosophical writings were _Commentatio in Platonis qui
vulgo fertur Minoem_ (1806), and _Philolaos' des Pythagoreers Lehren
nebst den Bruchstücken_ (1819), in which he endeavoured to show the
genuineness of the fragments.

Besides his edition of Pindar, Böckh published an edition of the
Antigone of Sophocles (1843) with a poetical translation and essays. An
early and important work on the Greek tragedians is his _Graecae
Tragoediae Principum ... num ea quae supersunt et genuina omnia sint et
forma primitiva servata_ (1808).

  The smaller writings of Böckh began to be collected in his lifetime.
  Three of the volumes were published before his death, and four after
  (_Gesammelte kleine Schriften_, 1858-1874). The first two consist of
  orations delivered in the university or academy of Berlin, or on
  public occasions. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth contain his
  contributions to the _Transactions of the Berlin Academy_, and the
  seventh contains his critiques. Böckh's lectures, delivered from
  1809-1865, were published by Bratuschek under the title of
  _Encyclopädie und Methodologie der philologischen Wissenschaften_ (2nd
  ed, Klussmann, 1886). His philological and scientific theories are set
  forth in Elze, _Über Philologie als System_ (1845), and Reichhardt,
  _Die Gliederung der Philologie entwickelt_ (1846). His correspondence
  with Ottfried Müller appeared at Leipzig in 1883. See Sachse,
  _Erinnerungen an August Böckh_ (1868); Stark, in the _Verhandlungen
  der Würzburger Philologensammlung_ (1868); Max Hoffmann, _August
  Böckh_ (1901); and S. Reiter, in _Neue Jahrbucher für das klassische
  Altertum_ (1902), p. 436.




BÖCKLIN, ARNOLD (1827-1901), Swiss painter, was born at Basel on the
16th of October 1827. His father, Christian Frederick Böcklin (b. 1802),
was descended from an old family of Schaffhausen, and engaged in the
silk trade. His mother, Ursula Lippe, was a native of the same city. In
1846 he began his studies at the Düsseldorf academy under Schirmer, who
recognized in him a student of exceptional promise, and sent him to
Antwerp and Brussels, where he copied the works of Flemish and Dutch
masters. Böcklin then went to Paris, worked at the Louvre, and painted
several landscapes; his "Landscape and Ruin" reveals at the same time a
strong feeling for nature and a dramatic conception of scenery. After
serving his time in the army he set out for Rome in March 1850, and the
sight of the Eternal City was a fresh stimulus to his mind. So, too, was
the influence of Italian nature and that of the dead pagan world. At
Rome he married (June 20, 1853) Angela Rosa Lorenza Pascucci. In 1856 he
returned to Munich, and remained there four years. He then exhibited the
"Great Park," one of his earliest works, in which he treated ancient
mythology with the stamp of individuality, which was the basis of his
reputation. Of this period, too, are his "Nymph and Satyr," "Heroic
Landscape" (Diana Hunting), both of 1858, and "Sappho" (1859). These
works, which were much discussed, together with Lenbach's
recommendation, gained him his appointment as professor at the Weimar
academy. He held the office for two years, painting the "Venus and
Love," a "Portrait of Lenbach," and a "Saint Catherine." He was again at
Rome from 1862 to 1866, and there gave his fancy and his taste for
violent colour free play in his "Portrait of Mme Böcklin," now in the
Basel gallery, in "An Anchorite in the Wilderness" (1863); a "Roman
Tavern," and "Villa on the Sea-shore" (1864); this last, one of his best
pictures. He returned to Basel in 1866 to finish his frescoes in the
gallery, and to paint, besides several portraits, "The Magdalene with
Christ" (1868); "Anacreon's Muse" (1869); and "A Castle and Warriors"
(1871). His "Portrait of Myself," with Death playing a violin (1873),
was painted after his return again to Munich, where he exhibited his
famous "Battle of the Centaurs" (in the Basel gallery); "Landscape with
Moorish Horsemen" (in the Lucerne gallery); and "A Farm" (1875). From
1876 to 1885 Böcklin was working at Florence, and painted a "Pietà,"
"Ulysses and Calypso," "Prometheus," and the "Sacred Grove." From 1886
to 1892 he settled at Zürich. Of this period are the "Naiads at Play,"
"A Sea Idyll," and "War." After 1892 Böcklin resided at San Domenico,
near Florence. An exhibition of his collected works was held at Basel
from the 20th of September to the 24th of October 1897. He died on the
16th of January 1901.

  His life has been written by Henri Mendelssohn. See also F. Hermann,
  _Gazette des Beaux Arts_ (Paris, 1893); Max Lehrs, _Arnold Böcklin,
  Ein Leitfaden zum Verständniss seiner Kunst_ (Munich, 1897); W.
  Ritter, _Arnold Böcklin_ (Gand, 1895); _Katalog der Böcklin Jubiläums
  Ausstellung_ (Basel, 1897).     (H. Fr.)




BOCLAND, BOCKLAND or BOOKLAND (from A.S. _boc_, book), an original mode
of tenure of land, also called charter-land or deed-land. Bocland was
folk-land granted to individuals in private ownership by a document
(charter or book) in writing, with the signatures of the king and
witenagemot; at first it was rarely, if ever, held by laymen, except for
religious purposes. Bocland to a certain extent resembled full ownership
in the modern sense, in that the owner could grant it in his lifetime,
in the same manner as he had received it, by _boc_ or book, and also
dispose of it by will. (See also FOLKLAND.)




BOCSKAY, STEPHEN [ISTVÁN] (1557-1606), prince of Transylvania, the most
eminent member of the ancient Bocskay family, son of György Bocskay and
Krisztina Sulyok, was born at Kolozsvár, Hungary. As the chief
councillor of Prince Zsigmond Báthory, he advised his sovereign to
contract an alliance with the emperor instead of holding to the Turk,
and rendered important diplomatic services on frequent missions to
Prague and Vienna. The enmity towards him of the later Báthory princes
of Transylvania, who confiscated his estates, drove him to seek
protection at the imperial court (1599); but the attempts of the emperor
Rudolph II. to deprive Hungary of her constitution and the Protestants
of their religious liberties speedily alienated Bocskay, especially
after the terrible outrages inflicted on the Transylvanians by the
imperial generals Basta and Belgiojoso from 1602 to 1604. Bocskay, to
save the independence of Transylvania, assisted the Turks; and in 1605,
as a reward for his part in driving Basta out of Transylvania, the
Hungarian diet, assembled at Modgyes, elected him prince (1605), on
which occasion the Ottoman sultan sent a special embassy to congratulate
him and a splendid jewelled crown made in Persia. Bocskay refused the
royal dignity, but made skilful use of the Turkish alliance. To save the
Austrian provinces of Hungary, the archduke Matthias, setting aside his
semi-lunatic imperial brother Rudolph, thereupon entered into
negotiations with Bocskay, and ultimately the peace of Vienna was
concluded (June 23, 1606), which guaranteed all the constitutional and
religious rights and privileges of the Hungarians both in Transylvania
and imperial Hungary. Bocskay, at the same time, was acknowledged as
prince of Transylvania by the Austrian court, and the right of the
Transylvanians to elect their own independent princes in future was
officially recognized. The fortress of Tokaj and the counties of Bereg,
Szatmár and Ugocsa were at the same time ceded to Bocskay, with
reversion to Austria if he should die childless. Simultaneously, at
Zsitvatorok, a peace, confirmatory of the peace of Vienna, was concluded
with the Turks. Bocskay survived this signal and unprecedented triumph
only a few months. He is said to have been poisoned (December 29, 1606)
by his chancellor, Mihály Kátay, who was hacked to bits by Bocskay's
adherents in the market-place of Kassa.

  See _Political Correspondence of Stephen Bocskay_ (Hung.), edited by
  Károly Szábo (Budapest, 1882); Jenö Thury, _Stephen Bocskay's
  Rebellion_ (Hung.), Budapest, 1899.     (R. N. B.)




BODE, JOHANN ELERT (1747-1826), German astronomer, was born at Hamburg
on the 19th of January 1747. Devoted to astronomy from his earliest
years, he eagerly observed the heavens at a garret window with a
telescope made by himself, and at nineteen began his career with the
publication of a short work on the solar eclipse of the 5th of August
1766. This was followed by an elementary treatise on astronomy entitled
_Anleitung zur Kenntniss des gestirnten Himmels_ (1768, 10th ed. 1844),
the success of which led to his being summoned to Berlin in 1772 for the
purpose of computing ephemerides on an improved plan. There resulted the
foundation by him, in 1774, of the well-known _Astronomisches Jahrbuch_,
51 yearly volumes of which he compiled and issued. He became director of
the Berlin observatory in 1786, withdrew from official life in 1825, and
died at Berlin on the 23rd of November 1826. His works were highly
effective in diffusing throughout Germany a taste for astronomy. Besides
those already mentioned he wrote:--_Sammlung astronomischer Tafeln_ (3
vols., 1776); _Erläuterung der Sternkunde_ (1776, 3rd ed. 1808);
_Uranographia_ (1801), a collection of 20 star-maps accompanied by a
catalogue of 17,240 stars and nebulae. In one of his numerous incidental
essays he propounded, in 1776, a theory of the solar constitution
similar to that developed in 1795 by Sir William Herschel. He gave
currency, moreover, to the empirical rule known as "Bode's Law," which
was actually announced by Johann Daniel Titius of Wittenberg in 1772. It
is expressed by the statement that the proportionate distances of the
several planets from the sun may be represented by adding 4 to each term
of the series; 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, &c. The irregularity will be noticed of
the first term, which should be 1½ instead of 0. (See SOLAR SYSTEM.)

  See J.F. Encke, _Berlin Abhandlungen_ (1827), p. xi.; H.C. Schumacher.
  _Astr. Nach._ v. 255, 367 (1827); Poggendorff, _Biog. literarisches
  Handwörterbuch; Allgemeine deutsche Biographie_, iii. 1.




BODEL, JEHAN (died _c._ 1210), French _trouvère_, was born at Arras in
the second half of the 12th century. Very little is known of his life,
but in 1205 he was about to start for the crusade when he was attacked
by leprosy. In a touching poem called _Le Congé_ (pr. by Méon in
_Recueil de fabliaux et contes_, vol. i.), he bade farewell to his
friends and patrons, and begged for a nomination to a leper hospital. He
wrote _Le Jeu de Saint Nicolas_, one of the earliest miracle plays
preserved in French (printed in Monmerqué and Michel's _Théâtre français
du moyen âge_, 1839, and for the _Soc. des bibliophiles français_,
1831); the _Chanson des Saisnes_ (ed. F. Michel 1839), four
_pastourelles_ (printed in K. Bartsch's _Altfranz. Romanzen und
Pastourellen_, Leipzig, 1870); and probably, the eight _fabliaux_
attributed to an unknown Jean Bedel. The legend of Saint Nicholas had
already formed the subject of the Latin _Ludus Sancti Nicholai_ of
Hilarius. Bodel placed the scene partly on a field of battle in Africa,
where the crusaders perish in a hopeless struggle, and partly in a
tavern. The piece, loosely connected by the miracle of Saint Nicholas
narrated in the prologue, ends with a wholesale conversion of the
African king and his subjects. The dialogue in the tavern scenes is
written in thieves' slang, and is very obscure. The _Chanson des
Saisnes_, Bodel's authorship of which has been called in question, is a
_chanson de geste_ belonging to the period of decadence, and is really a
_roman d'aventures_ based on earlier legends belonging to the
Charlemagne cycle. It relates the wars of Charlemagne against the Saxons
under Guiteclin de Sassoigne (Witikind or Widukind), with the second
revolt of the Saxons and their final submission and conversion. Jehan
Bodel makes no allusion to Ogier the Dane and many other personages of
the Charlemagne cycle, but he mentions the defeat of Roland at
Roncevaux. The romance is based on historical fact, but is overlaid with
romantic detail. It really embraces three distinct legends--those of the
wars against the Saxons, of Charlemagne's rebellious barons, and of
Baudouim and Sebille. The earlier French poems on the subject are lost,
but the substance of them is preserved in the Scandinavian versions of
the Charlemagne cycle (supposed to have been derived from English
sources) known as the _Karlamagnussaga_ (ed. Unger, Christiania, 1860)
and _Keiser Karl Magnus Krönike_ (Romantisk Digtnung, ed. C.J. Brandt,
Copenhagen, 1877).

  See also the article on Jehan Bodel by Paulin Paris in _Hist. litt, de
  la France_, xx. pp. 605-638; Gaston Paris, _Histoire poétique de
  Charlemagne_ (1865); Léon Gautier, _Les Épopées françaises_ (revised
  edition, vol. iii. pp. 650-684), where there is a full analysis of the
  _Chanson des Saisnes_ and a bibliography; H. Meyer, in _Ausgaben und
  Abhandlungen aus ... der romanischen Philologie_ (Marburg, 1883), pp.
  1-76, where its relation to the rest of the Charlemagne cycle is
  discussed.




BODENBACH (Czech _Podmokly_), a town of Bohemia, Austria, 83 m. N.N.E.
of Prague by rail. Pop. (1900) 10,782, almost exclusively German. It is
situated on the left bank of the Elbe opposite Tetschen, and is an
important railway junction, containing also an Austrian and a Saxon
custom-house. Bodenbach, which in the middle of the 19th century had
only a few hundred inhabitants, has become a very important industrial
centre. Its principal manufactures include cotton and woollen goods,
earthenware and crockery, chemicals, chicory, chocolate, sweetmeats and
preserves, and beer. It has also a very active transit trade.




BODENSTEDT, FRIEDRICH MARTIN VON (1819-1892), German author, was born at
Peine, in Hanover, on the 22nd of April 1819. He studied in Göttingen,
Munich and Berlin. His career was determined by his engagement in 1841
as tutor in the family of Prince Gallitzin at Moscow, where he gained a
thorough knowledge of Russian. This led to his appointment in 1844 as
the head of a public school at Tiflis, in Transcaucasia. He took the
opportunity of his proximity to Persia to study Persian literature, and
in 1851 published a volume of original poetry in oriental guise under
the fanciful title, _Die Lieder des Mirza Schaffy_ (English trans. by E.
d'Esterre, 1880). The success of this work can only be compared with
that of Edward FitzGerald's _Omar Khayyam_, produced in somewhat similar
circumstances, but differed from it in being immediate. It has gone
through 160 editions in Germany, and has been translated into almost all
literary languages. Nor is this celebrity undeserved, for although
Bodenstedt does not attain the poetical elevation of FitzGerald, his
view of life is wider, more cheerful and more sane, while the execution
is a model of grace. On his return from the East, Bodenstedt engaged for
a while in journalism, married the daughter of a Hessian officer
(Matilde, the _Edlitam_ of his poems), and was in 1854 appointed
professor of Slavonic at Munich. The rich stores of knowledge which
Bodenstedt brought back from the East were turned to account in two
important books, _Die Völker des Kaukasus und ihre Freiheits-Kämpfe
gegen die Russen_ (1848), and _Tausend und ein Tag im Orient_ (1850).
For some time Bodenstedt continued to devote himself to Slavonic
subjects, producing translations of Pushkin, Lermontov, Turgweniev, and
of the poets of the Ukraines, and writing a tragedy on the false
Demetrius, and an epic, _Ada die Lesghierin_, on a Circassian theme.
Finding, probably, this vein exhausted, he exchanged his professorship
in 1858 for one of Early English literature, and published (1858-1860) a
valuable work on the English dramatists contemporary with Shakespeare,
with copious translations. In 1862 he produced a standard translation of
Shakespeare's sonnets, and between 1866 and 1872 published a complete
version of the plays, with the help of many coadjutors. In 1867 he
undertook the direction of the court theatre at Meiningen, and was
ennobled by the duke. After 1873 he lived successively at Altona, Berlin
and Wiesbaden, where he died on the 19th of April 1892. His later works
consist of an autobiography (1888), successful translations from Hafiz
and Omar Khayyam, and lyrics and dramas which added little to his
reputation.

  An edition of his collected works in 12 vols. was published at Berlin
  (1866-1869), and his _Erzahlungen und Romane_ at Jena (1871-1872). For
  further biographical details, see Bodenstedt's _Erinnerungen aus
  meinem Leben_ (2 vols., Berlin, 1888-1890); and G. Schenck, _Friedrich
  von Bodenstedt. Ein Dichterleben in seinen Briefen_ (Berlin, 1893).




BODHI VAMSA, a prose poem in elaborate Sanskritized Pali, composed by
Upatissa in the reign of Mahinda IV. of Ceylon about A.D. 980. It is an
adaptation of a previously existing work in Sinhalese on the same
subject, and describes the bringing of a branch of the celebrated Bo or
Bodhi tree (i.e. Wisdom Tree, under which the Buddha had attained
wisdom) to Ceylon in the 3rd century B.C. The Bodhi Vamsa quotes verses
from the Mahavamsa, but draws a great deal of its material from other
sources; and it has occasionally preserved details of the older
tradition not found in any other sources known to us.

  Edition in Pali for the Pali Text Society by S. Arthur Strong (London,
  1891).




BODICHON, BARBARA LEIGH SMITH (1827-1891), English educationalist, was
born at Watlington, Norfolk, on the 8th of April 1827, the daughter of
Benjamin Smith (1783-1860), long M.P. for Norwich. She early showed a
force of character and catholicity of sympathy that later won her a
prominent place among philanthropists and social workers. In 1857 she
married an eminent French physician, Dr Eugene Bodichon, and, although
wintering many years in Algiers, continued to lead the movements she had
initiated in behalf of Englishwomen. In 1869 she published her _Brief
Summary of the Laws of England concerning Women_, which had a useful
effect in helping forward the passage of the Married Women's Property
Act. In 1866, co-operating with Miss Emily Davies, she matured a scheme
for the extension of university education to women, and the first small
experiment at Hitchin developed into Girton College, to which Mme
Bodichon gave liberally of her time and money. With all her public
interests she found time for society and her favourite art of painting.
She studied under William H. Hunt, and her water-colours, exhibited at
the Salon, the Academy and elsewhere, showed great originality and
talent, and were admired by Corot and Daubigny. Her London salon
included many of the literary and artistic celebrities of her day; she
was George Eliot's most intimate friend, and, according to her, the
first to recognize the authorship of _Adam Bede_. Her personal
appearance is said to be described in that of Romola. Mme Bodichon died
at Robertsbridge, Sussex, on the 11th of June 1891.




BODIN, JEAN (1530-1596), French political philosopher, was born at
Angers in 1530. Having studied law at Toulouse and lectured there on
jurisprudence, he settled in Paris as an advocate, but soon applied
himself to literature. In 1555 he published his first work, a
translation of Oppian's _Cynegeticon_ into Latin verse, with a
commentary. The celebrated scholar, Turnebus, complained that some of
his emendations had been appropriated without acknowledgment. In 1588,
in refutation of the views of the seigneur de Malestroit, comptroller of
the mint, who maintained that there had been no rise of prices in France
during the three preceding centuries, he published his _Responsio ad
Paradoxa Malestretti_ (_Réponse aux paradoxes de M. Malestroit_), which
the first time explained in a nearly satisfactory manner the revolution
of prices which took place in the 16th century. Bodin showed a more
rational appreciation than many of his contemporaries of the causes of
this revolution, and the relation of the variations in money to the
market values of wares in general as well as to the wages of labour. He
saw that the amount of money in circulation did not constitute the
wealth of the community, and that the prohibition of the export of the
precious metals was rendered inoperative by the necessities of trade.
This tract, the _Discours sur les causes de l'extèrme cherté qui èst
aujourdhuy en France_ (1574), and the disquisition on public revenues in
the sixth book of the _République_, entitle Bodin to a distinguished
position among the earlier economists.

His learning, genial disposition, and conversational powers won him the
favor of Henry III. and of his brother, the duc d'Alençon; and he was
appointed king's attorney at Laon in 1576. In this year he married,
performed his most brilliant service to his country, and completed his
greatest literary work. Elected by the _tiers état_ of Vermandois to
represent it in the states-general of Blois, he contended with skill and
boldness in extremely difficult circumstances for freedom of conscience,
justice and peace. The nobility and clergy favoured the League, and
urged the king to force his subjects to profess the Catholic religion.
When Bodin found he could not prevent this resolution being carried, he
contrived to get inserted in the petition drawn up by the states the
clause "without war," which practically rendered nugatory all its other
clauses. While he thus resisted the clergy and nobility he successfully
opposed the demand of the king to be allowed to alienate the public
lands and royal demesnes, although the chief deputies had been won over
to assent. This lost him the favour of the king, who wanted money on any
terms. In 1581 he acted as secretary to the duc d'Alençon when that
prince came over to England to seek the hand of Queen Elizabeth. Here he
had the pleasure of finding that the _République_ was studied at London
and Cambridge, although in a barbarous Latin translation. This
determined him to translate his work into Latin himself (1586). The
latter part of Bodin's life was spent at Laon, which he is said to have
persuaded to declare for the League in 1589, and for Henry IV. five
years afterwards. He died of the plague in 1596, and was buried in the
church of the Carmelites.

With all his breadth and liberality of mind Bodin was a credulous
believer in witchcraft, the virtues of numbers and the power of the
stars, and in 1580 he published the _Démonomanie des sorciers_, a work
which shows that he was not exempt from the prejudices of the age.
Himself regarded by most of his contemporaries as a sceptic, and by some
as an atheist, he denounced all who dared to disbelieve in sorcery, and
urged the burning of witches and wizards. It might, perhaps, have gone
hard with him if his counsel had been strictly followed, as he confessed
to have had from his thirty-seventh year a friendly demon, who, if
properly invoked, touched his right ear when he purposed doing what was
wrong, and his left when he meditated doing good.

His chief work, the _Six livres de la République_ (Paris, 1576), which
passed through several editions in his lifetime, that of 1583 having as
an appendix _L'Apologie de René Herpin_ (Bodin himself), was the first
modern attempt to construct an elaborate system of political science. It
is perhaps the most important work of its kind between Aristotle and
modern writers. Though he was much indebted to Aristotle he used the
material to advantage, adding much from his own experience and
historical knowledge. In harmony with the conditions of his age, he
approved of absolute governments, though at the same time they must, he
thought, be controlled by constitutional laws. He entered into an
elaborate defence of individual property against Plato and More, rather
perhaps because the scheme of his work required the treatment of that
theme than because it was practically urgent in his day, when the
excesses of the Anabaptists had produced a strong feeling against
communistic doctrines. He was under the general influence of the
mercantilist views, and approved of energetic governmental interference
in industrial matters, of high taxes on foreign manufactures and low
duties on raw materials and articles of food, and attached great
importance to a dense population. But he was not a blind follower of the
system; he wished for unlimited freedom of trade in many cases; and he
was in advance of his more eminent contemporary Montaigne in perceiving
that the gain of one nation is not necessarily the loss of another. To
the public finances, which he called "the sinews of the state," he
devoted much attention, and insisted on the duties of the government in
respect to the right adjustment of taxation. In general he deserves the
praise of steadily keeping in view the higher aims and interests of
society in connexion with the regulation and development of its material
life.

Among his other works are _Oratio de instituenda in republica juventate_
(1559); _Methodus ad facilem historiarum cognitionem_ (1566);
_Universale Naturae Theatrum_ (1596, French trans. by Fougerolles,
1597), and the _Colloquium Heptaplomeres de abditis rerum sublimium
arcanis_, written in 1588, published first by Guhrauer (1841), and in a
complete form by L. Noack (1857). The last is a philosophy of naturalism
in the form of a conversation between seven learned men--a Jew, a
Mahommedan, a Lutheran, a Zwinglian, a Roman Catholic, an Epicurean and
a Theist. The conclusion to which they are represented as coming is that
they will live together in charity and toleration, and cease from
further disputation as to religion. It is curious that Leibnitz, who
originally regarded the _Colloquium_ as the work of a professed enemy of
Christianity, subsequently described it as a most valuable production
(cf. M. Carrière, _Weltanschauung_, p. 317).

  See H. Baudrillart, _J. Bodin et son temps_ (Paris, 1853); Ad. Franck,
  _Réformateurs et publicistes de l'Europe_ (Paris, 1864); N.
  Planchenault, _Études sur Jean Bodin_ (Angers, 1858); E. de
  Barthélemy, _Étude sur J. Bodin_ (Paris, 1876); for the political
  philosophy of Bodin, see P. Janet, _Hist. de la science polit._ (3rd
  ed., Paris, 1887); Hancke, _B. Studien über d. Begriff d.
  Souveränität_ (Breslau, 1894), A. Bardoux. _Les Légistes et leur
  influence sur la soc. française_; Fournol, _Bodin prédécesseur de
  Montesquieu_ (Paris, 1896); for his political economy, J.K. Ingram,
  _Hist. of Pol. Econ._ (London, 1888); for his ethical teaching, A.
  Desjardins, _Les Moralistes français du seizième siècle_, ch. v.; and
  for his historical views, R. Flint's _Philosophy of History in Europe_
  (ed. 1893), pp. 190 foll.




BODKIN (Early Eng. _boydekin_, a dagger, a word of unknown origin,
possibly connected with the Gaelic _biodag_, a short sword), a small,
needle-like instrument of steel or bone with a flattened knob at one
end, used in needlework. It has one or more slits or eyes, through which
cord, tape or ribbon can be passed, for threading through a hem or
series of loops. The word is also used of a small piercing instrument
for making holes in cloth, &c.




BODLE or BODDLE (said to be from Bothwell, the name of a mint-master), a
Scottish copper coin worth about one-sixth of an English penny, first
issued under Charles II. It survives in the phrase "not to care a
bodle."




BODLEY, GEORGE FREDERICK (1827-1907), English architect, was the
youngest son of a physician at Brighton, his elder brother, the Rev.
W.H. Bodley, becoming a well-known Roman Catholic preacher and a
professor at Oscott. He was articled to the famous architect Sir Gilbert
Scott, under whose influence he became imbued with the spirit of the
Gothic revival, and he gradually became known as the chief exponent of
14th-century English Gothic, and the leading ecclesiastical architect in
England. One of his first churches was St Michael and All Angels,
Brighton (1855), and among his principal erections may be mentioned All
Saints, Cambridge; Eton Mission church, Hackney Wick; Clumber church;
Eccleston church; Hoar Cross church; St Augustine's, Pendlebury; Holy
Trinity, Kensington; Chapel Allerton, Leeds; St Faith's, Brentford;
Queen's College chapel, Cambridge; Marlborough College chapel; and
Burton church. His domestic work included the London School Board
offices, the new buildings at Magdalen, Oxford, and Hewell Grange (for
Lord Windsor). From 1872 he had for twenty years the partnership of Mr
T. Garner, who worked with him. He also designed (with his pupil James
Vaughan) the cathedral at Washington, D.C., U.S.A., and cathedrals at
San Francisco and in Tasmania; and when Mr Gilbert Scott's design for
his new Liverpool cathedral was successful in the competition he
collaborated with the young architect in preparing for its erection.
Bodley began contributing to the Royal Academy in 1854, and in 1881 was
elected A.R.A., becoming R.A. in 1902. In addition to being a most
learned master of architecture, he was a beautiful draughtsman, and a
connoisseur in art; he published a volume of poems in 1899; and he was a
designer of wall-papers and chintzes for Watts & Co., of Baker Street,
London; in early life he had been in close alliance with the
Pre-Raphaelites, and he did a great deal, like William Morris, to
improve public taste in domestic decoration and furniture. He died on
the 21st of October 1907, at Water Eaton, Oxford.




BODLEY, SIR THOMAS (1545-1613), English diplomatist and scholar, founder
of the Bodleian library, Oxford, was born at Exeter on the 2nd of March
1545. During the reign of Queen Mary, his father, John Bodley, being
obliged to leave the kingdom on account of his Protestant principles,
went to live at Geneva. In that university, in which Calvin and Beza
were then teaching divinity, young Bodley studied for a short time. On
the accession of Queen Elizabeth he returned with his father to England,
and soon after entered Magdalen College, Oxford. In 1563 he took his
B.A. degree, and was admitted a fellow of Merton College. In 1565 he
read a Greek lecture in hall, took his M.A. degree the year after, and
read natural philosophy in the public schools. In 1569 he was proctor,
and for some time after was deputy public orator. Quitting Oxford in
1576, he made the tour of Europe; shortly after his return he became
gentleman-usher to Queen Elizabeth; and in 1587, apparently, he married
Ann Ball, a widow lady of considerable fortune, the daughter of a Mr
Carew of Bristol. In 1584 he entered parliament as member for
Portsmouth, and represented St German's in 1586. In 1585 Bodley was
entrusted with a mission to form a league between Frederick II. of
Denmark and certain German princes to assist Henry of Navarre. He was
next despatched on a secret mission to France; and in 1588 he was sent
to the Hague as minister, a post which demanded great diplomatic skill,
for it was in the Netherlands that the power of Spain had to be fought.
The essential difficulties of his mission were complicated by the
intrigues of the queen's ministers at home, and Bodley repeatedly begged
that he might be recalled. He was finally permitted to return to England
in 1596, but finding his preferment obstructed by the jarring interests
of Burleigh and Essex, he retired from public life. He was knighted on
the 18th of April 1604. He is, however, remembered specially as the
founder of the Bodleian at Oxford, practically the earliest public
library in Europe (see LIBRARIES). He determined, he said, "to take his
farewell of state employments and to set up his staff at the library
door in Oxford." In 1598 his offer to restore the old library was
accepted by the university. Bodley not only used his private fortune in
his undertaking, but induced many of his friends to make valuable gifts
of books. In 1611 he began its permanent endowment, and at his death in
London on the 28th of January 1613, the greater part of his fortune was
left to it. He was buried in the choir of Merton College chapel where a
monument of black and white marble was erected to him.

  Sir Thomas wrote his own life to the year 1609, which, with the first
  draft of the statutes drawn up for the library, and his letters to the
  librarian, Thomas James, was published by Thomas Hearne, under the
  title of _Reliquiae Bodleianae, or Authentic Remains of Sir Thomas
  Bodley_ (London, 1703, 8vo).




BODMER, JOHANN JAKOB (1698-1783), Swiss-German author, was born at
Greifensee, near Zürich, on the 19th of July 1698. After first studying
theology and then trying a commercial career, he finally found his
vocation in letters. In 1725 he was appointed professor of Helvetian
history in Zürich, a chair which he held for half a century, and in 1735
became a member of the "Grosser Rat." He published (1721-1723), in
conjunction with J.J. Breitinger (1701-1774) and several others, _Die
Discourse der Mahlern_, a weekly journal after the model of the
Spectator. Through his prose translation of Milton's Paradise Lost
(1732) and his successful endeavours to make a knowledge of English
literature accessible to Germany, he aroused the hostile criticism of
Gottsched (_q.v_.) and his school, a struggle which ended in the
complete discomfiture of the latter. His most important writings are the
treatises _Von dem Wunderbaren in der Poesie_ (1740) and _Kritische
Betrachtungen über die poetischen Gemälde der Dichter_ (1741), in which
he pleaded for the freedom of the imagination from the restriction
imposed upon it by French pseudo-classicism. Bodmer's epics _Die
Sündfluth_ (1751) and _Noah_ (1751) are weak imitations of Klopstock's
_Messias_, and his plays are entirely deficient in dramatic qualities.
He did valuable service to German literature by his editions of the
Minnesingers and part of the _Nibelungenlied_. He died at Zürich on the
2nd of January 1783.

  See T.W. Danzel, _Gottsched und seine Zeit_ (Leipzig, 1848); J.
  Crüger, _J.C. Gottsched, Bodmer und Breitinger_ (Stuttgart, 1884); F.
  Braitmaier, _Geschichte der poetischen Theorie und Kritik von den
  Diskursen der Maler bis auf Lessing_ (Leipzig, 1888); _Denkschrift zu
  Bodmers 200. Geburtstag_ (Zürich, 1900).




BODMIN, a market town and municipal borough in the Bodmin parliamentary
division of Cornwall, England, the county town, 30½ m. W.N.W. of
Plymouth, on branches of the Great Western and London & South-Western
railways. Pop. (1901) 5353. It lies between two hills in a short valley
opening westward upon that of the Camel, at the southern extremity of
the high open Bodmin Moor. The large church of St Petrock, mainly
Perpendicular, has earlier portions, and a late Norman font. East of it
there is a ruined Decorated chapel of St Thomas of Canterbury, with a
crypt. A tower of Tudor date, in the cemetery, marks the site of a
chapel of the gild of the Holy Rood. Part of the buildings of a
Franciscan friary, founded _c._ 1240, are incorporated in the
market-house, and the gateway remains in an altered form. At Bodmin are
a prison, with civil and naval departments, the county gaol and asylum,
the headquarters of the constabulary, and those of the duke of
Cornwall's Light Infantry. Cattle, sheep and horse fairs are held, and
there is a considerable agricultural trade. The borough is under a
mayor, four aldermen and twelve councillors. Area, 2797 acres.

Traces of Roman occupation have been found in the western part of the
parish, belonging to the first century A.D. Possibly tin-mining was
carried on here at that period. The grant of a charter by King Edred to
the prior and canons of Bodmin (Bomine, Bodman, Bodmyn) in respect of
lands in Devonshire appears in an _inspeximus_ of 1252. To its
ecclesiastical associations it owed its importance at the time of the
Domesday survey, when St Petrock held the manor of Bodmin, wherein were
sixty-eight houses and one market. To successive priors, as mesne lords,
it also owed its earliest municipal privileges. King John's charter to
the prior and convent, dated the 17th of July 1199, contained a clause
(subsequently cancelled by Richard II.) by which burgesses were exempt
from being impleaded, touching any tenements in their demesne, except
before the king and his chief justice. Richard of Cornwall, king of the
Romans, confirmed to the burgesses their gild merchant, Edward I. the
pesage of tin, and Edward II. a market for tin and wool. Queen Elizabeth
in 1563 constituted the town a free borough and the burgesses a body
corporate, granting at the same time two fairs and a Saturday market.
There are still held also three other fairs whose origin is uncertain.
An amended charter granted in 1594 remained in force until 1789, when
the corporation became extinct owing to the diminution of the burgesses.
By virtue of a new charter of incorporation granted in 1798 and
remodelled by the act of 1835, the corporation now consists of a mayor,
four aldermen and twelve councillors. The first members for Bodmin were
summoned in 1295. Retaining both its members in 1832, losing one in 1868
and the other in 1885, it has now become merged in the south-eastern
division of the county. From 1715 to 1837 the assizes were generally
held alternately at Launceston and Bodmin; since 1837 they have been
held at Bodmin only. A court of probate has also been held at Bodmin
since 1773. A festival known as "Bodmin Riding" was formerly celebrated
here on the Sunday and Monday following St Thomas's day (July 7). It is
thought by some to have been instituted in 1177 to celebrate the
recovery of the bones of St Petrock.

  See _Victoria County History, Cornwall_; John Maclean, _Parochial and
  Family History of the Deanery of Trigg Minor, Cornwall_ (3 vols.,
  1873-1879).




BODÖ, a seaport on the north-western coast of Norway, in Nordland _amt_
(county), lat. 67° 17' N. Pop. (1900) 4827. The rock-bound harbour
admits large vessels, and there is a brisk trade in fish and eider-down.
The neighbouring country has many scenic attractions. Sixty miles inland
(E.) rises the great massif of Sulitelma on the Swedish frontier, with
its copper mines, broad snow-fields and glaciers. The fjords of the
district include the imposing Beierenfjord, the Saltenfjord, and the
Skjerstadfjord, at the narrow mouths of which, between islands, a
remarkable cataract (Saltström) is formed at the turn of the tide. On
this fjord is Skjerstad, a large scattered village.




BODONI, GIAMBATTISTA (1740-1813), Italian printer, was born in 1740 at
Saluzzo in Piedmont, where his father owned a printing establishment.
While yet a boy he began to engrave on wood. He at length went to Rome,
and there became a compositor for the press of the Propaganda. He made
himself acquainted with the Oriental languages, and thus was enabled to
render essential service to the Propaganda press, by restoring and
accurately distributing the types of several Oriental alphabets which
had fallen into disorder. The infante Don Ferdinand, afterwards duke of
Parma, having established, about 1760, a printing-house on the model of
those in Paris, Madrid and Turin, Bodoni was placed at the head of this
establishment, which he soon rendered the first of the kind in Europe.
The beauty of his typography, &c., leaves nothing further to be desired;
but the intrinsic value of his editions is seldom equal to their outward
splendour. His Homer, however, is a truly magnificent work; and, indeed,
his Greek letters are faultless imitations of the best Greek
manuscript. His editions of the Greek, Latin, Italian and French
classics are all highly prized for their typographical elegance, and
some of them are not less remarkable for their accuracy. Bodoni died at
Padua in 1813. In 1818 a magnificent work appeared in two volumes
quarto, entitled _Manuale Tipografico_, containing specimens of the vast
collection of types which had belonged to him.

  See De Lama, _Vita del Cavaliere Giambattista Bodoni_ (1816).




BODY-SNATCHING, the secret disinterring of dead bodies in churchyards in
order to sell them for the purpose of dissection. Those who practised
body-snatching were frequently called resurrectionists or
resurrection-men. Previous to the passing of the Anatomy Act 1832 (see
ANATOMY: _History_), no licence was required in Great Britain for
opening an anatomical school, and there was no provision for supplying
subjects to students for anatomical purposes. Therefore, though
body-snatching was a misdemeanour at common law, punishable with fine
and imprisonment, it was a sufficiently lucrative business to run the
risk of detection. Body-snatching became so prevalent that it was not
unusual for the relatives and friends of a deceased person to watch the
grave for some time after burial, lest it should be violated. Iron
coffins, too, were frequently used for burial, or the graves were
protected by a framework of iron bars called _mortsafes_, well-preserved
examples of which may still be seen in Greyfriars' churchyard,
Edinburgh.

  For a detailed history of body-snatching, see _The Diary of a
  Resurrectionist_, edited by J.B. Bailey (London, 1896), which also
  contains a full bibliography and the regulations in force in foreign
  countries for the supply of bodies for anatomical purposes.




BOECE (or BOYCE), HECTOR (c. 1465-c. 1536), Scottish historian, was
born at Dundee about the year 1465, being descended of a family which
for several generations had possessed the barony of Panbride in
Forfarshire. He received his early education at Dundee, and completed
his course of study in the university of Paris, where he took the degree
of B.D. He was appointed regent, or professor, of philosophy in the
college of Montaigu; and there he was a contemporary of Erasmus, who in
two epistles has spoken of him in the highest terms. When William
Elphinstone, bishop of Aberdeen, was laying his plans for the foundation
of the university of Aberdeen (King's College) he made Boece his chief
adviser; and the latter was persuaded, after receipt of the papal bull
erecting the university (1494), to be the first principal. He was in
Aberdeen about 1500 when lectures began in the new buildings, and he
appears to have been well received by the canons of the cathedral,
several of whom he has commemorated as men of learning. It was a part of
his duty as principal to read lectures on divinity.

The emoluments of his office were poor, but he also enjoyed the income
of a canonry at Aberdeen and of the vicarage of Tullynessle. Under the
date of 14th July 1527, we find a "grant to Maister Hector" of an annual
pension of £50, to be paid by the sheriff of Aberdeen out of the king's
casualties; and on the 26th of July 1529 was issued a "precept for a
lettre to Mr Hector Boys, professor of theology, of a pension of £50
Scots yearly, until the king promote him to a benefice of 100 marks
Scots of yearly value; the said pension to be paid him by the custumars
of Aberdeen." In 1533 and 1534, one-half of his pension was, however,
paid by the king's treasurer, and the other half by the comptroller; and
as no payment subsequent to that of Whitsuntide 1534 has been traced in
the treasurer's accounts, he is supposed to have obtained the benefice
soon after that period. This benefice was the rectorship of Tyrie.

In 1528, soon after the publication of his history, Boece received the
degree of D.D. at Aberdeen; and on this occasion the magistrates voted
him a present of a tun of wine when the new wines should arrive, or,
according to his option, the sum of £20 to purchase bonnets. He appears
to have survived till the year 1536; for on the 22nd of November in that
year, the king presented John Garden to the rectory of Tyrie, vacant by
the death of "Mr Hector Boiss." He died at Aberdeen, and was buried
before the high altar at King's College, beside the tomb of his patron
Bishop Elphinstone.

His earliest publication, _Episcoporum Murthlacensium et Aberdonensium
per Hectorem Boetium Vitae_, was printed at the press of Jodocus Badius
(Paris, 1522). The notices of the early prelates are of little value,
but the portion of the book in which he speaks of Bishop Elphinstone is
of enduring merit. Here we likewise find an account of the foundation
and constitution of the college, together with some notices of its
earliest members. His fame rests chiefly on his _History of Scotland_,
published in 1527 under the title _Scotorum Historiae a prima gentis
origine cum aliarum et rerum et gentium illustratione non vulgari_. This
edition contains seventeen books. Another edition, containing the
eighteenth book and a fragment of the nineteenth, was published by
Ferrerius, who has added an appendix of thirty-five pages (Paris, 1574).

The composition of the history displays much ability; but Boece's
imagination was, however, stronger than his judgment: of the extent of
the historian's credulity, his narrative exhibits many unequivocal
proofs; and of deliberate invention or distortion of facts not a few,
though the latter are less flagrant and intentional than early
19th-century criticism has assumed. He professed to have obtained from
the monastery of Icolmkill, through the good offices of the earl of
Argyll, and his brother, John Campbell of Lundy, the treasurer, certain
original historians of Scotland, and among the rest Veremundus, of whose
writings not a single vestige is now to be found. In his dedication to
the king he is pleased to state that Veremundus, a Spaniard by birth,
was archdeacon of St Andrews, and that he wrote in Latin a history of
Scotland from the origin of the nation to the reign of Malcolm III., to
whom he inscribed his work. His propensity to the marvellous was at an
early period exposed in the following verses by Leland:--

  "Hectoris historici tot quot mendacia scripsit
    Si vis ut numerem, lector amice, tibi,
   Me jubeas etiam fluctus numerare marinos
    Et liquidi Stellas connumerare poli."

  Boece's _History of Scotland_ was translated into Scottish prose by
  John Bellenden, and into verse by William Stewart. _The Lives of the
  Bishops_ was reprinted for the Bannatyne Club, Edin., 1825, in a
  limited edition of sixty copies. A commonplace verse-rendering of the
  _Life of Bishop Elphinstone_, which was written by Alexander Gardyne
  in 1619, remains in MS. There is no modern edition of the history,
  though the versions of Bellenden and Stewart have been edited.




BOEHM, SIR JOSEPH EDGAR, Bart. (1834-1890), British sculptor, was born
of Hungarian parentage on the 4th of July 1834 at Vienna, where his
father was director of the imperial mint. After studying the plastic art
in Italy and at Paris, he worked for a few years as a medallist in his
native city. After a further period of study in England, he was so
successful as an exhibitor at the Exhibition of 1862 that he determined
to abandon the execution of coins and medals, and to give his mind to
portrait busts and statuettes, chiefly equestrian. The colossal statue
of Queen Victoria, executed in marble (1869) for Windsor Castle, and the
monument of the duke of Kent in St George's chapel, were his earliest
great works, and so entirely to the taste of his royal patrons that he
rose rapidly in favour with the court. He was made A.R.A. in 1878, and
produced soon afterwards the statue of Carlyle on the Thames embankment
at Chelsea. In 1881 he was appointed sculptor in ordinary to the queen,
and in the ensuing year became full Academician. On the death of Dean
Stanley, Boehm was commissioned to execute his sarcophagus in
Westminster Abbey, and his achievement, a recumbent statue, has been
pronounced to be one of the best portraits in modern sculpture. Less
successful was his monument to General Gordon in St Paul's cathedral. He
executed the equestrian statue of the duke of Wellington at Hyde Park
Corner, and designed the coinage for the Jubilee of Queen Victoria in
1887. Among his ideal subjects should be noted the "Herdsman and Bull."
He died suddenly in his studio at South Kensington on the 12th of
December 1890.




BOEHM VON BAWERK, EUGEN (1851-   ), Austrian economist and statesman,
was born at Brünn on the 12th of February 1851. Entering the Austrian
department of finance in 1872, he held various posts until 1880, when he
became qualified as a teacher of political economy in the university of
Vienna. The following year, however, he transferred his services to the
university of Innsbruck, where he became professor in 1884. In 1889 he
became councillor in the ministry of finance, and represented the
government in the Lower House on all questions of taxation. In 1895 and
again in 1897-1898 he was minister of finance. In 1899 he was made a
member of the Upper House, and in 1900 again became minister of finance.
One of the leaders of the Austrian school of economists, he has made
notable criticisms on the theory of value in relation to cost as laid
down by the "classical school." His more important works are _Kapital
und Kapitalzins_ (Innsbruck, 1884-1889), in two parts, translated by W.
Smart, viz. _Capital and Interest_ (part i., 1890), and _The Positive
Theory of Capital_ (part ii., 1891); _Karl Marx and the Close of his
System_ (trans. A.M. Macdonald, 1898); _Recent Literature on Interest_
(trans. W.A. Scott and S. Feilbogen, 1903).




BOEHME (or BEHMEN), JAKOB (1575-1624), German mystical writer, whose
surname (of which Fechner gives eight German varieties) appears in
English literature as Beem, Behmont, &c., and notably Behmen, was born
at Altseidenberg, in Upper Lusatia, a straggling hamlet among the hills,
some 10 m. S.E. of Görlitz. His father was a well-to-do peasant, and his
first employment was that of herd boy on the Landskrone, a hill in the
neighbourhood of Görlitz; the only education he received was at the
town-school of Seidenberg, a mile from his home. Seidenberg, to this
day, is filled with shoemakers, and to a shoemaker Jakob was apprenticed
in his fourteenth year (1589), being judged not robust enough for
husbandry. Ten years later (1599) we find him settled at Görlitz as
master-shoemaker, and married to Katharina, daughter of Hans
Kuntzschmann, a thriving butcher in the town. After industriously
pursuing his vocation for ten years, he bought (1610) the substantial
house, which still preserves his name, close by the bridge, in the
Neiss-Vorstadt. Two or three years later he gave up business, and did
not resume it as a shoemaker; but for some years before his death he
made and sold woollen gloves, regularly visiting Prague fair for this
purpose.

Boehme's authorship began in his 37th year (1612) with a treatise,
_Aurora, oder die Morgenröte im Aufgang_, which though unfinished was
surreptitiously copied, and eagerly circulated in MS. by Karl von Ender.
This raised him at once out of his homely sphere, and made him the
centre of a local circle of liberal thinkers, considerably above him in
station and culture. The charge of heresy was, however, soon directed
against him by Gregorius Richter, then pastor primarius of Görlitz.
Feeling ran so high after Richter's pulpit denunciations, that, in July
1613, the municipal council, fearing a disturbance of the peace, made a
show of examining Boehme, took possession of his fragmentary quarto, and
dismissed the writer with an admonition to meddle no more with such
matters. For five years he obeyed this injunction. But in 1618 began a
second period of authorship; he poured forth, but did not publish,
treatise after treatise, expository and polemical, in the next and the
two following years. In 1622 he composed nothing but a few short pieces
on true repentance, resignation, &c., which, however, devotionally
speaking, are the most precious of all his writings. They were the only
pieces offered to the public in his lifetime and with his permission, a
fact which is evidence of the essentially religious and practical
character of his mind. Their publication at Görlitz, on New Year's day
1624, under the title of _Der Weg zu Christo_, was the signal for
renewed clerical hostility. Boehme had by this time entered on the third
and most prolific though the shortest period (1623-1624) of his
speculation. His labours at the desk were interrupted in May 1624 by a
summons to Dresden, where his famous "colloquy" with the Upper
Consistorial court was made the occasion of a flattering but transient
ovation on the part of a new circle of admirers. Richter died in August
1624, and Boehme did not long survive his pertinacious foe. Seized with
a fever when away from home, he was with difficulty conveyed to Görlitz.
His wife was at Dresden on business; and during the first week of his
malady he was nursed by a literary friend. He died, after receiving the
rites of the church, grudgingly administered by the authorities, on
Sunday, the 17th of November.

Boehme always professed that a direct inward opening or illumination was
the only source of his speculative power. He pretended to no other
revelation. Ecstatic raptures we should not expect, for he was
essentially a Protestant mystic. No "thus saith the Lord" was claimed as
his warrant, after the manner of Antoinette Bourignon, or Ludowick
Muggleton; no spirits or angels held converse with him as with
Swedenborg. It is needless to dwell, in the way either of acceptance or
rejection, on the very few occasions in which his outward life seemed to
him to come into contact with the invisible world. The apparition of the
pail of gold to the herd boy on the Landskrone, the visit of the
mysterious stranger to the young apprentice, the fascination of the
luminous sheen, reflected from a common pewter dish, which first, in
1600, gave an intuitive turn to his meditations, the heavenly music
which filled his ears as he lay dying--none of these matters is
connected organically with the secret of his special power. The
mysteries of which he discoursed were not reported to him: he "beheld"
them. He saw the root of all mysteries, the _Ungrund_ or _Urgrund_,
whence issue all contrasts and discordant principles, hardness and
softness, severity and mildness, sweet and bitter, love and sorrow,
heaven and hell. These he "saw" in their origin; these he attempted to
describe in their issue, and to reconcile in their eternal result. He
saw into the being of God; whence the birth or going forth of the divine
manifestation. Nature lay unveiled to him, he was at home in the heart
of things. "His own book, which he himself was," the microcosm of man,
with his threefold life, was patent to his vision. Such was his own
account of his qualification. If he failed it was in expression; he
confessed himself a poor mouthpiece, though he saw with a sure spiritual
eye.

It must not be supposed that the form in which Boehme's pneumatic
realism worked itself out in detail was shaped entirely from within. In
his writings we trace the influence of Theophr. Bombast von Hohenheim,
known as Paracelsus (1493-1541), of Kaspar Schwenkfeld (1490-1561), the
first Protestant mystic, and of Valentin Weigel (1533-1588). From the
school of Paracelsus came much of his puzzling phraseology,--his _Turba_
and _Tinctur_ and so forth,--a phraseology embarrassing to himself as
well as to his readers. His friends plied him with foreign terms, which
he was delighted to receive, interpreting them by an instinct, and using
them often in a corrupted form and always in a sense of his own. Thus
the word _Idea_ called up before him the image of "a very fair,
heavenly, and chaste virgin." The title _Aurora_, by which his earliest
treatise is best known, was furnished by Dr Balthasar Walther. These,
however, were false helps, which only serve to obscure a difficult
study, like the _Flagrat_ and _Lubet_, with which his English translator
veiled Boehme's own honest _Schreck_ and _Lust_. There is danger lest
his crude science and his crude philosophical vocabulary conceal the
fertility of Boehme's ideas and the transcendent greatness of his
religious insight. Few will take the pains to follow him through the
interminable account of his seven _Quellgeister_, which remind us of
Gnosticism; or even of his three first properties of eternal nature, in
which his disciples find Newton's formulae anticipated, and which
certainly bear a marvellous resemblance to the three [Greek: archai] of
Schelling's _Theogonische Natur_. Boehme is always greatest when he
breaks away from his fancies and his trammels, and allows speech to the
voice of his heart. Then he is artless, clear and strong; and no man can
help listening to him, whether he dive deep down with the conviction
"ohne Gift und Grimm kein Leben," or rise with the belief that "the
being of all beings is a wrestling power," or soar with the persuasion
that Love "in its height is as high as God." The mystical poet of
Silesia, Angelus Silesius, discerned where Boehme's truest power lay
when he sang--

  "Im Wasser lebt der Fisch, die Pflanze in der Erden,
   Der Vogel in der Luft, die Sonn' am Firmament,
   Der Salamander muss im Feu'r erhalten werden,
   Und Gottes Herz ist Jakob Böhme's Element."

The three periods of Boehme's authorship constitute three distinct
stages in the development of his philosophy. He himself marks a
threefold division of his subject-matter:--1. PHILOSOPHIA, i.e. the
pursuit of the divine _Sophia_, a study of God in himself; this was
attempted in the _Aurora_. 2. ASTROLOGIA, i.e., in the largest sense,
cosmology, the manifestation of the divine in the structure of the world
and of man; hereto belong, with others, _Die drei Principien göttlichen
Wesens; Vom dreifachen Leben der Menschen; Von der Menschwerdung
Christi;, Von der Geburt und Bezeichnung alter Wesen_ (known as
_Signatura Rerum_). 3. THEOLOGIA, i.e., in Scougall's phrase, "the
life of God in the soul of man." Of the speculative writings under this
head the most important are _Von der Gnadenwahl; Mysterium Magnum_ (a
spiritual commentary on Genesis); _Von Christi Testamenten_ (the
Sacraments).

Although Boehme's philosophy is essentially theological, and his
theology essentially philosophical, one would hardly describe him as a
philosophical theologian; and, indeed, his position is not one in which
either the philosopher or the theologian finds it easy to make himself
completely at home. The philosopher finds no trace in Boehme of a
conception of God which rests its own validity on an accord with the
highest canons of reason or of morals; it is in the actual not in the
ideal that Boehme seeks God, whom he discovers as the spring of natural
powers and forces, rather than as the goal of advancing thought. The
theologian is staggered by a language which breaks the fixed association
of theological phrases, and strangely reversing the usual point of view,
characteristically pictures God as underneath rather than above. Nature
rises out of Him; we sink into Him. The _Ungrund_ of the unmanifested
Godhead is boldly represented in the English translations of Boehme by
the word _Abyss_, in a sense altogether unexplained by its Biblical use.
In the _Theologia Germanica_ this tendency to regard God as the
_substantia_, the underlying ground of all things, is accepted as a
foundation for piety; the same view, when offered in the colder logic of
Spinoza, is sometimes set aside as atheistical. The procession of
spiritual forces and natural phenomena out of the _Ungrund_ is described
by Boehme in terms of a threefold manifestation, commended no doubt by
the constitution of the Christian Trinity, but exhibited in a form
derived from the school of Paracelsus. From Weigel he learned a purely
idealistic explanation of the universe, according to which it is not the
resultant of material forces, but the expression of spiritual
principles. These two explanations were fused in his mind till they
issued forth as equivalent forms of one and the same thought. Further,
Schwenkfeld supplied him with the germs of a transcendental exegesis,
whereby the Christian Scriptures and the dogmata of Lutheran orthodoxy
were opened up in harmony with his new-found views. Thus equipped,
Boehme's own genius did the rest. A primary effort of Boehme's
philosophy is to show how material powers are substantially one with
moral forces. This is the object with which he draws out the dogmatic
scheme which dictates the arrangement of his seven _Quellgeister_.
Translating Boehme's thought out of the uncouth dialect of material
symbols (as to which one doubts sometimes whether he means them as
concrete instances, or as pictorial illustrations, or as a mere _memoria
technica_), we find that Boehme conceives of the correlation of two
triads of forces. Each triad consists of a thesis, an antithesis and a
synthesis; and the two are connected by an important link. In the hidden
life of the Godhead, which is at once _Nichts_ and _Alles_, exists the
original triad, viz. Attraction, Diffusion, and their resultant, the
Agony of the unmanifested Godhead. The transition is made; by an act of
will the divine Spirit comes to Light; and immediately the manifested
life appears in the triad of Love, Expression, and their resultant,
Visible Variety. As the action of contraries and their resultant are
explained the relations of soul, body and spirit; of good, evil and free
will; of the spheres of the angels, of Lucifer, and of this world. It is
a more difficult problem to account on this philosophy for the
introduction of evil. Boehme does not resort to dualism, nor has he the
smallest sympathy with a pantheistic repudiation of the fact of sin.
That the difficulty presses him is clear from the progressive changes
in his attempted solution of the problem. In the _Aurora_ nothing save
good proceeds from the _Ungrund_, though there is good that abides and
good that fall;--Christ and Lucifer. In the second stage of his writing
the antithesis is directly generated as such; good and its contrary are
coincidently given from the one creative source, as factors of life and
movement; while in the third period evil is a direct outcome of the
primary principle of divine manifestation--it is the wrath side of God.
Corresponding to this change we trace a significant variation in the
moral end contemplated by Boehme as the object of this world's life and
history. In the first stage the world is created in remedy of a decline;
in the second, for the adjustment of a balance of forces; in the third,
to exhibit the eternal victory of good over evil, of love over wrath.

  Editions of Boehme's works were published by H. Betke (Amsterdam,
  1675); by J.G. Gichtel (Amsterdam, 1682-1683, 10 vols.); by K.W.
  Schiebler (Leipzig, 1831-1847, 7 vols.). Translations of sundry
  treatises have been made into Latin (by J.A. Werdenhagen, 1632), Dutch
  (complete, by W. v. Bayerland, 1634-1641), and French (by Jean Macle,
  c. 1640, and L.C. de Saint-Martin, 1800-1809). Between 1644 and 1662
  all Boehme's works were translated by John Ellistone (d. 1652) and
  John Sparrow, assisted by Durand Hotham and Humphrey Blunden, who paid
  for the undertaking. At that time regular societies of _Behmenists_,
  embracing not only the cultivated but the vulgar, existed in England
  and in Holland. They merged into the Quaker movement, holding already
  in common with Friends that salvation is nothing short of the very
  presence and life of Christ in the believer, and only kept apart by an
  objective doctrine of the sacraments which exposed them to the polemic
  of Quakers (e.g. J. Anderdon). Muggleton led an anthropomorphic
  reaction against them, and between the two currents they were swept
  away. The Philadelphian Society at the beginning of the 18th century
  consisted of cultured mystics, Jane Lead, Pordage, Francis Lee,
  Bromley, &c., who fed upon Boehme. William Law (1686-1761) somewhat
  later recurred to the same spring, with the result, however, in those
  dry times of bringing his own good sense into question rather than of
  reviving the credit of his author. After Law's death the old English
  translation was in great part re-edited (4 vols., 1762-1784) as a
  tribute to his memory, by George Ward and Thomas Langcake, with plates
  from the designs of D.A. Freher (Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 5767-5794). This
  forms what is commonly called Law's translation; to complete it a 5th
  vol. (12mo, Dublin, 1820) is needed.

  See also J. Hambetger, _Die Lehre des deutschen Philosophen J.
  Boehmes_ (1844); Alb. Peip, _J. Boehme der deutsche Philosoph_ (1860);
  von Harless, _J. Boehme und die Alchimisten_ (1870, 2nd ed. 1882). For
  Boehme's life see the _Memoirs_ by Abraham von Frankenberg (d. 1652)
  and others, trans, by F. Okely (1870); La Motte Fouqué, _J. Boehm, ein
  biographischer Denkstein_ (1831); H.A. Fechner, _J. Boehme, sein Leben
  und seine Schriften_ (1857); H.L. Martensen, _J. Boehme, Theosophiske
  Studier_ (Copenhagen, 1881; English trans. 1885); J. Claassen, _J.
  Boehme, sein Leben und seine theosophische Werke_ (Güterslöh, 1885);
  P. Deussen, _J. Boehme, über sein Leben und seine Philosophie_ (Kiel,
  1897).




BOEOTIA, a district of central Greece, stretching from Phocis and Locris
in the W. and N. to Attica and Megaris in the S. between the strait of
Euboea and the Corinthian Gulf. This area, amounting in all to 1100 sq.
m., naturally falls into two main divisions. In the north the basin of
the Cephissus and Lake Copaïs lies between parallel mountain-walls
continuing eastward the line of Parnassus in the extensive ridge of
Helicon, the "Mountain of the Muses" (5470 ft.) and the east Locrian
range in Mts. Ptoüm, Messapium and other smaller peaks. These ranges,
which mostly lie close to the seaboard, form by their projecting spurs a
narrow defile on the Phocian frontier, near the famous battlefield of
Chaeroneia, and shut in Copaïs closely on the south between Coronea and
Haliartus. The north-east barrier was pierced by underground passages
(_katavothra_) which carried off the overflow from Copaïs. The southern
portion of the land forms a plateau which slopes to Mt. Cithaeron, the
frontier range between Boeotia and Attica. Within this territory the low
ridge of Teumessus separates the plain of Ismenus and Dirce, commanded
by the citadel of Thebes, from the upland plain of the Asopus, the only
Boeotian river that finds the eastern sea. Though the Boeotian climate
suffered from the exhalations of Copaïs, which produced a heavy
atmosphere with foggy winters and sultry summers, its rich soil was
suited alike for crops, plantations and pasture; the Copaïs plain,
though able to turn into marsh when the choking of the _katavothra_
caused the lake to encroach, being among the most fertile in Greece.
The central position of Boeotia between two seas, the strategic strength
of its frontiers and the ease of communication within its extensive area
were calculated to enhance its political importance. On the other hand
the lack of good harbours hindered its maritime development; and the
Boeotian nation, although it produced great men like Pindar,
Epaminondas, Pelopidas and Plutarch, was proverbially as dull as its
native air. But credit should be given to the people for their splendid
military qualities: both their cavalry and heavy infantry achieved a
glorious record.

In the mythical days Boeotia played a prominent part. Of the two great
centres of legends, Thebes with its Cadmean population figures as a
military stronghold, and Orchomenus, the home of the Minyae, as an
enterprising commercial city. The latter's prosperity is still attested
by its archaeological remains (notably the "Treasury of Minyas") and the
traces of artificial conduits by which its engineers supplemented the
natural outlets. The "Boeotian" population seems to have entered the
land from the north at a date probably anterior to the Dorian invasion.
With the exception of the Minyae, the original peoples were soon
absorbed by these immigrants, and the Boeotians henceforth appear as a
homogeneous nation. In historical times the leading city of Boeotia was
Thebes, whose central position and military strength made it a suitable
capital. It was the constant ambition of the Thebans to absorb the other
townships into a single state, just as Athens had annexed the Attic
communities. But the outlying cities successfully resisted this policy,
and only allowed the formation of a loose federation which in early
times seems to have possessed a merely religious character. While the
Boeotians, unlike the Arcadians, generally acted as a united whole
against foreign enemies, the constant struggle between the forces of
centralization and disruption perhaps went further than any other cause
to check their development into a really powerful nation. Boeotia hardly
figures in history before the late 6th century. Previous to this its
people is chiefly known as the producer of a type of geometric pottery
similar to the Dipylon ware of Athens. About 519 the resistance of
Plataea to the federating policy of Thebes led to the interference of
Athens on behalf of the former; on this occasion, and again in 507, the
Athenians defeated the Boeotian levy. During the Persian invasion of
480, while some of the cities fought whole-heartedly in the ranks of the
patriots, Thebes assisted the invaders. For a time the presidency of the
Boeotian League was taken away from Thebes, but in 457 the Spartans
reinstated that city as a bulwark against Athenian aggression. Athens
retaliated by a sudden advance upon Boeotia, and after the victory of
Oenophyta brought under its power the whole country excepting the
capital. For ten years the land remained under Athenian control, which
was exercised through the newly installed democracies; but in 447 the
oligarchic majority raised an insurrection, and after a victory at
Coronea regained their freedom and restored the old constitutions. In
the Peloponnesian War the Boeotians, embittered by the early conflicts
round Plataea, fought zealously against Athens. Though slightly
estranged from Sparta after the peace of Nicias, they never abated their
enmity against their neighbours. They rendered good service at Syracuse
and Arginusae; but their greatest achievement was the decisive victory
at Delium over the flower of the Athenian army (424), in which both
their heavy infantry and their cavalry displayed unusual efficiency.

About this time the Boeotian League comprised eleven groups of sovereign
cities and associated townships, each of which elected one Boeotarch or
minister of war and foreign affairs, contributed sixty delegates to the
federal council at Thebes, and supplied a contingent of about a thousand
foot and a hundred horse to the federal army. A safeguard against undue
encroachment on the part of the central government was provided in the
councils of the individual cities, to which all important questions of
policy had to be submitted for ratification. These local councils, to
which the propertied classes alone were eligible, were subdivided into
four sections, resembling the _prytaneis_ of the Athenian council, which
took it in turns to take previous cognizance of all new measures.[1]

Boeotia took a prominent part in the war of the Corinthian League
against Sparta, especially at Haliartus and Coronea (395-394). This
change of policy seems due mainly to the national resentment against
foreign interference. Yet disaffection against Thebes was now growing
rife, and Sparta fostered this feeling by stipulating for the complete
independence of all the cities in the peace of Antalcidas (387). In 374
Pelopidas restored the Theban dominion. Boeotian contingents fought in
all the campaigns of Epaminondas, and in the later wars against Phocis
(356-346); while in the dealings with Philip of Macedon the federal
cities appear merely as the tools of Thebes. The federal constitution
was also brought into accord with the democratic governments now
prevalent throughout the land. The sovereign power was vested in the
popular assembly, which elected the Boeotarchs (between seven and twelve
in number), and sanctioned all laws. After the battle of Chaeroneia, in
which the Boeotian heavy infantry once again distinguished itself, the
land never rose again to prosperity. The destruction of Thebes by
Alexander (335) seems to have paralysed the political energy of the
Boeotians, though it led to an improvement in the federal constitution,
by which each city received an equal vote. Henceforth they never pursued
an independent policy, but followed the lead of protecting powers.
Though the old military training and organization continued, the people
proved unable to defend the frontiers, and the land became more than
ever the "dancing-ground of Ares." Though enrolled for a short time in
the Aetolian League (about 245 B.C.) Boeotia was generally loyal to
Macedonia, and supported its later kings against Rome. In return for the
excesses of the democracies Rome dissolved the league, which, however,
was allowed to revive under Augustus, and merged with the other central
Greek federations in the Achaean synod. The death-blow to the country's
prosperity was given by the devastations during the first Mithradatic
War.

Save for a short period of prosperity under the Frankish rulers of
Athens (1205-1310), who repaired the _katavothra_ and fostered
agriculture, Boeotia long continued in a state of decay, aggravated by
occasional barbarian incursions. The first step towards the country's
recovery was not until 1895, when the outlets of Copaïs were again put
into working order. Since then the northern plain has been largely
reclaimed for agriculture, and the natural riches of the whole land are
likely to develop under the influence of the railway to Athens. Boeotia
is at present a Nomos with Livadia (the old Turkish capital) for its
centre; the other surviving townships are quite unimportant. The
population (65,816 in 1907) is largely Albanian.

AUTHORITIES.--Thuc. iv. 76-101; Xenophon, _Hellenica_, iii.-vii.;
Strabo, pp. 400-412; Pausanias ix.; Theopompus (or Cratippus) in the
_Oxyrhynchus Papyri_, vol. v. (London, 1908), No. 842, col. 12; W.M.
Leake, _Travels in Northern Greece_, chs. xi.-xix. (London, 1835); H.F.
Tozer, _Geography of Greece_ (London, 1873), pp. 233-238; W. Rhys
Roberts, _The Ancient Boeotians_ (Cambridge, 1895); E.A. Freeman.
_Federal Government_ (ed. 1893, London), ch. iv. § 2; B.V. Head,
_Historia Numorum_, pp. 291 sqq. (Oxford, 1887); W. Larfeld, _Sylloge
Inscriptionum Boeoticarum_ (Berlin, 1883). (See also THEBES.)


FOOTNOTE:

  [1] Thucydides (v. 38), in speaking of the "four councils of the
    Boeotians," is referring to the plenary bodies in the various states.




BOER, the Dutch form of the Eng. "boor," in its original signification
of husbandman (Ger. _Bauer_), a name given to the Dutch farmers of South
Africa, and especially to the Dutch population of the Transvaal and
Orange River States. (See SOUTH AFRICA and TRANSVAAL.)




BOERHAAVE, HERMANN (1668-1738), Dutch physician and man of science, was
born at Voorhout near Leiden on the 31st of December 1668. Entering the
university of Leiden he took his degree in philosophy in 1689, with a
dissertation _De distinctione mentis a corpore_, in which he attacked
the doctrines of Epicurus, Hobbes and Spinoza. He then turned to the
study of medicine, in which he graduated in 1693 at Harderwyck in
Guelderland. In 1701 he was appointed lecturer on the institutes of
medicine at Leiden; in his inaugural discourse, _De commendando
Hippocratis studio_, he recommended to his pupils that great physician
as their model. In 1709 he became professor of botany and medicine, and
in that capacity he did good service, not only to his own university,
but also to botanical science, by his improvements and additions to the
botanic garden of Leiden, and by the publication of numerous works
descriptive of new species of plants. In 1714, when he was appointed
rector of the university, he succeeded Govert Bidloo (1649-1713) in the
chair of practical medicine, and in this capacity he had the merit of
introducing the modern system of clinical instruction. Four years later
he was appointed also to the chair of chemistry. In 1728 he was elected
into the French Academy of Sciences, and two years later into the Royal
Society of London. In 1729 declining health obliged him to resign the
chairs of chemistry and botany; and he died, after a lingering and
painful illness, on the 23rd of September 1738 at Leiden. His genius so
raised the fame of the university of Leiden, especially as a school of
medicine, that it became a resort of strangers from every part of
Europe. All the princes of Europe sent him disciples, who found in this
skilful professor not only an indefatigable teacher, but an affectionate
guardian. When Peter the Great went to Holland in 1715, to instruct
himself in maritime affairs, he also took lessons from Boerhaave. His
reputation was not confined to Europe; a Chinese mandarin wrote him a
letter directed "To the illustrious Boerhaave, physician in Europe," and
it reached him in due course.

His principal works are--_Institutiones medicae_ (Leiden, 1708);
_Aphorismi de cognoscendis et curandis morbis_ (Leiden, 1709), on which
his pupil and assistant, Gerard van Swieten (1700-1772) published a
commentary in 5 vols.; and _Elementa chemiae_ (Paris, 1724).




BOETHUS, a sculptor of the Hellenistic age, a native of Carthage (or
possibly Chalcedon). His date cannot be accurately fixed, but was
probably the 2nd century B.C. He was noted for his representations of
children, in dealing with whom earlier Greek art had not been very
successful; and especially for a group representing a boy struggling
with a goose, of which several copies survive in museums.




BOETIUS (or BOETHIUS), ANICIUS MANLIUS SEVERINUS (c. A.D. 480-524),
Roman philosopher and statesman, described by Gibbon as "the last of the
Romans whom Cato or Tully could have acknowledged for their countryman."
The historians of the day give us but imperfect records or make
unsatisfactory allusions. Later chroniclers indulged in the fictitious
and the marvellous, and it is almost exclusively from his own books that
trustworthy information can be obtained. There is considerable diversity
among authorities as to his name. One editor of his _De Consolatione_,
Bertius, thinks that he bore the praenomen of Flavius, but there is no
authority for this supposition. His father was Flavius Manlius Boetius,
and it is probable that the Flavius Boetius, the praetorian prefect who
was put to death in A.D. 455 by order of Valentinian III., was his
grandfather, but these facts do not prove that he also had the praenomen
of Flavius. Many of the earlier editions inserted the name of Torquatus,
but it is not found in any of the best manuscripts. The last name is
commonly written Boethius, from the idea that it is connected with the
Greek [Greek: Boaethos]; but the best manuscripts agree in reading
Boetius.

His boyhood was spent in Rome during the reign of Odoacer. We know
nothing of his early years. A passage in a treatise falsely ascribed to
him (_De Disciplina Scholarium_) and a misinterpretation of a passage in
Cassiodorus led early scholars to suppose that he spent some eighteen
years in Athens pursuing his studies, but there is no foundation for
this opinion. His father, consul in 487, seems to have died soon after;
for Boetius states that, when he was bereaved of his parent, men of the
highest rank took him under their charge (_De Con_. lib. ii. c. 3),
especially the senator Q. Aur. Memmius Symmachus, whose daughter
Rusticiana he married. By her he had two sons, Anicius Manlius Severinus
Boetius and Q. Aurelius Memmius Symmachus. He became a favourite with
Theodoric, the Ostrogoth, who ruled in Rome from 500, and was one of
his intimate friends. Boetius was consul in 510, and his sons, while
still young, held the same honour together (522). Boetius regarded it as
the height of his good fortune when he witnessed his two sons, consuls
at the same time, convoyed from their home to the senate-house amid the
enthusiasm of the masses. On that day, he tells us, while his sons
occupied the curule chairs in the senate-house, he himself had the
honour of pronouncing a panegyric on the monarch. But his good fortune
did not last, and he attributes the calamities that came upon him to the
ill-will which his bold maintenance of justice had caused, and to his
opposition to every oppressive measure. Of this he mentions particular
cases. A famine had begun to rage. The prefect of the praetorium was
determined to satisfy the soldiers, regardless altogether of the
feelings of the provincials. He accordingly issued an edict for a
_coemptio_, that is, an order compelling the provincials to sell their
corn to the government, whether they would or not. This edict would have
utterly ruined Campania. Boetius interfered. The case was brought before
the king, and Boetius succeeded in averting the _coemptio_ from the
Campanians. And he gives as a crowning instance that he exposed himself
to the hatred of the informer Cyprianus by preventing the punishment of
Albinus, a man of consular rank. He mentions in another place that when
at Verona the king was anxious to transfer the accusation of treason
brought against Albinus to the whole senate, he defended the senate at
great risk. In consequence of the ill-will that Boetius had thus roused,
he was accused of treason towards the end of the reign of Theodoric. The
charges were that he had conspired against the king, that he was anxious
to maintain the integrity of the senate, and to restore Rome to liberty,
and that for this purpose he had written to the emperor Justin. Justin
had, no doubt, special reasons for wishing to see an end to the reign of
Theodoric. Justin was orthodox, Theodoric was an Arian. The orthodox
subjects of Theodoric were suspicious of their ruler; and many would
gladly have joined in a plot to displace him. The knowledge of this fact
may have rendered Theodoric suspicious. But Boetius denied the
accusation in unequivocal terms. He did indeed wish the integrity of the
senate. He would fain have desired liberty, but all hope of it was gone.
The letters addressed by him to Justin were forgeries, and he had not
been guilty of any conspiracy. Notwithstanding his innocence he was
condemned and sent to Ticinum (Pavia) where he was thrown into prison.
It was during his confinement in this prison that he wrote his famous
work _De Consolatione Philosophiae_. His goods were confiscated, and
after an imprisonment of considerable duration he was put to death in
524. Procopius relates that Theodoric soon repented of his cruel deed,
and that his death, which took place soon after, was hastened by remorse
for the crime he had committed against his great counsellor.

Two or three centuries after the death of Boetius writers began to view
his death as a martyrdom. Several Christian books were ascribed to him,
and there was one especially on the Trinity (see below) which was
regarded as proof that he had taken an active part against the heresy of
Theodoric. It was therefore for his orthodoxy that Boetius was put to
death. And these writers delight to paint with minuteness the horrible
tortures to which he was exposed and the marvellous actions which the
saint performed at his death. He was locally regarded as a saint, but he
was not canonized. The brick tower in Pavia in which he was confined
was, and still is, an object of reverence to the country people.
Finally, in the year 996, Otho III. ordered the bones of Boetius to be
taken out of the place in which they had lain hid, and to be placed in
the church of S. Pietro in Ciel d'Oro within a splendid tomb, for which
Gerbert, afterwards Pope Silvester II., wrote an inscription. Thence
they were subsequently removed to a tomb beneath the high altar of the
cathedral. It should be mentioned also that some have given him a
decidedly Christian wife, of the name of Elpis, who wrote hymns, two of
which are still extant (Daniel, _Thes. Hymn._ i. p. 156). This is a pure
supposition inconsistent with chronology, and based only on a
misinterpretation of a passage in the _De Consolatione_.

The contemporaries of Boetius regarded him as a man of profound
learning. Priscian the grammarian speaks of him as having attained the
summit of honesty and of all sciences. Cassiodorus, _magister
officiorum_ under Theodoric and the intimate acquaintance of the
philosopher, employs language equally strong, and Ennodius, the bishop
of Pavia, knows no bounds for his admiration. Theodoric had a profound
respect for his scientific abilities. He employed him in setting right
the coinage. When he visited Rome with Gunibald, king of the
Burgundians, he took him to Boetius, who showed them, amongst other
mechanical contrivances, a sun-dial and a water-clock. The foreign
monarch was astonished, and, at the request of Theodoric, Boetius had to
prepare others of a similar nature, which were sent as presents to
Gunibald.

The fame of Boetius increased after his death, and his influence during
the middle ages was exceedingly powerful. His circumstances peculiarly
favoured this influence. He appeared at a time when contempt for
intellectual pursuits had begun to pervade society. In his early years
he was seized with a passionate enthusiasm for Greek literature, and
this continued through life. Even amidst the cares of the consulship he
found time for commenting on the _Categories_ of Aristotle. The idea
laid hold of him of reviving the spirit of his countrymen by imbuing
them with the thoughts of the great Greek writers. He formed the
resolution to translate all the works of Aristotle and all the dialogues
of Plato, and to reconcile the philosophy of Plato with that of
Aristotle. He did not succeed in all that he designed; but he did a
great part of his work. He translated into Latin Aristotle's _Analytica
Priora et Posteriora_, the _Topica_, and _Elenchi Sophistici_; and he
wrote commentaries on Aristotle's _Categories_, on his book
[Greek: peri ermaeneias], also a commentary on the _Isagoge_ of
Porphyrius. These works formed to a large extent the source from which
the middle ages derived their knowledge of Aristotle. (See Stahr,
_Aristoteles bei den Römern_, pp. 196-234.) Boetius wrote also a
commentary on the _Topica_ of Cicero; and he was also the author of
independent works on logic:--_Introductio ad Categoricos Syllogismos_,
in one book; _De Syllogismis Categoricis_, in two books; _De Syllogismis
Hypotheticis_, in two books; _De Divisione_, in one book; _De
Definitione_, in one book; _De Differentiis Topicis_, in four books.

We see from a statement of Cassiodorus that he furnished manuals for the
quadrivium of the schools of the middle ages (the "quattuor matheseos
disciplinae," as Boetius calls them) on arithmetic, music, geometry and
astronomy. The statement of Cassiodorus that he translated Nicomachus is
rhetorical. Boetius himself tells us in his preface addressed to his
father-in-law Symmachus that he had taken liberties with the text of
Nicomachus, that he had abridged the work when necessary, and that he
had introduced formulae and diagrams of his own where he thought them
useful for bringing out the meaning. His work on music also is not a
translation from Pythagoras, who left no writing behind him. But Boetius
belonged to the school of musical writers who based their science on the
method of Pythagoras. They thought that it was not sufficient to trust
to the ear alone, to determine the principles of music, as did practical
musicians like Aristoxenus, but that along with the ear, physical
experiments should be employed. The work of Boetius is in five books and
is a very complete exposition of the subject. It long remained a
text-book of music in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It is
still very valuable as a help in ascertaining the principles of ancient
music, and gives us the opinions of some of the best ancient writers on
the art. The manuscripts of the geometry of Boetius differ widely from
each other. One editor, Godofredus Friedlein, thinks that there are only
two manuscripts which can at all lay claim to contain the work of
Boetius. He published the _Ars Geometriae_, in two books, as given in
these manuscripts; but critics are generally inclined to doubt the
genuineness even of these. Professor Rand, Georgius Ernst and A.P.
McKinlay regard the _Ars_ as certainly inauthentic, while they accept
the _Interpretatio Euclidis_ (see works quoted in bibliography).

By far the most important and most famous of the works of Boetius is
his book _De Consolatione Philosophiae_. Gibbon justly describes it as
"a golden volume, not unworthy of the leisure of Plato or Tully, but
which claims incomparable merit from the barbarism of the times and the
situation of the author." The high reputation it had in medieval times
is attested by the numerous translations, commentaries and imitations of
it which then appeared. Among others Asser, the instructor of Alfred the
Great, and Robert Grosseteste, bishop of Lincoln, commented on it.
Alfred translated it into Anglo-Saxon. Versions of it appeared in
German, French, Italian, Spanish and Greek before the end of the 15th
century. Chaucer translated it into English prose before the year 1382;
and this translation was published by Caxton at Westminster, 1480.
Lydgate followed in the wake of Chaucer. It is said that, after the
invention of printing, amongst others Queen Elizabeth translated it, and
that the work was well known to Shakespeare. It was the basis of the
earliest specimen of Provençal literature.

  This famous work consists of five books. Its form is peculiar, and is
  an imitation of a similar work by Marcianus Capella, _De Nuptiis
  Philologiae et Mercurii_. It is alternately in prose and verse. The
  verse shows great facility of metrical composition, but a considerable
  portion of it is transferred from the tragedies of Seneca. The first
  book opens with a few verses, in which Boetius describes how his
  sorrows had brought him to a premature old age. As he is thus
  lamenting, a woman appears to him of dignified mien, whom he
  recognizes as his guardian, Philosophy. She, resolving to apply the
  remedy for his grief, questions him for that purpose. She finds that
  he believes that God rules the world, but does not know what he
  himself is; and this absence of self-knowledge is the cause of his
  weakness. In the second book Philosophy presents to Boetius Fortune,
  who is made to state to him the blessings he has enjoyed, and after
  that proceeds to discuss with him the kind of blessings that fortune
  can bestow, which are shown to be unsatisfactory and uncertain. In the
  third book Philosophy promises to lead him to true happiness, which is
  to be found in God alone, for since God is the highest good, and the
  highest good is true happiness, God is true happiness. Nor can real
  evil exist, for since God is all-powerful, and since he does not wish
  evil, evil must be non-existent. In the fourth book Boetius raises the
  question, Why, if the governor of the universe is good, do evils
  exist, and why is virtue often punished and vice rewarded? Philosophy
  proceeds to show that in fact vice is never unpunished nor virtue
  unrewarded. From this Philosophy passes into a discussion in regard to
  the nature of providence and fate, and shows that every fortune is
  good. The fifth and last book takes up the question of man's free will
  and God's foreknowledge, and, by an exposition of the nature of God,
  attempts to show that these doctrines are not subversive of each
  other; and the conclusion is drawn that God remains a foreknowing
  spectator of all events, and the ever-present eternity of his vision
  agrees with the future quality of our actions, dispensing rewards to
  the good and punishments to the wicked.

  Several theological works have been ascribed to Boetius, as has been
  already mentioned. The _Consolatio_ affords conclusive proof that the
  author was not a practical believer in Christianity. The book contains
  expressions such as _daemones_, _angelica virtus_, and _purgatoria
  dementia_, which have been thought to be derived from the Christian
  faith; but they are used in a heathen sense, and are explained
  sufficiently by the circumstance that Boetius was on intimate terms
  with Christians. The writer nowhere finds consolation in any Christian
  belief, and Christ is never named in the work. It is not impossible,
  however, that Boetius may have been brought up a Christian, and that
  in his early years he may have written some Christian books. Peiper
  thinks that the first three treatises are the productions of the early
  years of Boetius. The first, _De Sancta Trinitate_, is addressed to
  Symmachus (Domino Patri Symmacho), and the result of the short
  discussion, which is of an abstract nature, and deals partly with the
  ten categories, is that unity is predicated absolutely, or, in regard
  to the substance of the Deity, trinity is predicated relatively. The
  second treatise is addressed to John the deacon ("Ad Joannem
  Diaconum"), and its subject is "Utrum Pater et Filius et Spiritus
  Sanctus de divinitate substantialiter praedicentur." This treatise is
  shorter than the first, occupying only two or three pages, and the
  conclusion of the argument is the same. The third treatise bears the
  title, _Quomodo substantiae in eo quod sint bonae sint cum non sint
  substantialia bona_. It contains nothing distinctly Christian, and it
  contains nothing of great value; therefore its authorship is a matter
  of little consequence. Peiper thinks that, as the best MSS. uniformly
  assign these treatises to Boetius, they are to be regarded as his;
  that it is probable that Symmachus and John (who afterwards became
  Pope) were the men of highest distinction who took charge of him when
  he lost his father; and that these treatises are the first-fruits of
  his studies, which he dedicates to his guardians and benefactors. He
  thinks that the variations in the inscriptions of the fifth treatise
  which is not found in the best manuscript, are so great that the name
  of Boetius could not have originally been in the title. The fourth
  book is also not found in the best manuscript, and two manuscripts
  have no inscription. He infers, from these facts, that there is no
  sure evidence for the authorship of the fourth and fifth treatises.
  The fifth treatise is _Contra Eutychen et Nestorium_. Both Eutyches
  and Nestorius are spoken of as living. A council is mentioned, in
  which a letter was read, expounding the opinion of the Eutychians for
  the first time. The novelty of the opinion is also alluded to. All
  these circumstances point to the council of Chalcedon (451). The
  treatise was therefore written before the birth of Boetius, if it be
  not a forgery; but there is no reason to suppose that the treatise was
  not a genuine production of the time to which it professes to belong.
  The fourth treatise, _De Fide Catholica_, does not contain any
  distinct chronological data; but the tone and opinions of the treatise
  produce the impression that it probably belonged to the same period as
  the treatise against Eutyches and Nestorius. Several inscriptions
  ascribe both these treatises to Boetius. It will be seen from this
  statement that Peiper bases his conclusions on grounds far too narrow;
  and on the whole it is perhaps more probable that Boetius wrote none
  of the four Christian treatises, particularly as they are not ascribed
  to him by any of his contemporaries. Three of them express in the
  strongest language the orthodox faith of the church in opposition to
  the Arian heresy, and these three put in unmistakable language the
  procession of the Holy Spirit from both Father and Son. The fourth
  argues for the orthodox belief of the two natures and one person of
  Christ. When the desire arose that it should be believed that Boetius
  perished from his opposition to the heresy of Theodoric, it was
  natural to ascribe to him works which were in harmony with this
  supposed fact. The works may really have been written by one Boetius,
  a bishop of Africa, as Jourdain supposes, or by some Saint Severinus,
  as Nitzsch conjectures, and the similarity of name may have aided the
  transference of them to the heathen or neutral Boetius.

  Important and, if genuine, decisive evidence upon this point is
  afforded by a passage in the _Anecdoton Holderi_, a fragment contained
  in a 10th-century MS. (ed. H. Usener, Leipzig, 1877). The fragment
  gives an extract from a previously unknown letter of Cassiodorus, the
  important words being "Scripsit (i.e. Boetius) librum de sancta
  trinitate, et capita quaedam dogmatica, et librum contra Nestorium."
  Nitzsch, however, held that this was a copyist's gloss, harmonizing
  with the received Boetius legend, which had been transferred to the
  text, and did not consider that it outweighed the opposing internal
  evidence from _De Cons. Phil._

  EDITIONS.--The first collected edition of the works of Boetius was
  published at Venice in 1492 (Basel, 1570); the last in J.P. Migne's
  _Patrologia_, lxiii., lxiv. (Paris, 1847). Of the numerous editions of
  the _De Consolatione_ the best are those of Theodorus Obbarius (Jena,
  1843) and R. Peiper (Leipzig, 1871). The first contains prolegomena on
  the life and writings of Boetius, on his religion and philosophy, and
  on the manuscripts and editions, a critical apparatus, and notes. The
  text of the second was based on the fullest collation of MSS. up to
  that time, though a considerable number of MSS. still remained to be
  collated. In addition to an account of the MSS. used, it gives the
  Book of Lupus, "De Metris Boetii," the "Vita Boetii" contained in some
  MSS., "Elogia Boetii," and a short list of the commentators,
  translators and imitators of the _Consolatio_. It contains also an
  account of the metres used by Boetius in the _Consolatio_, and a list
  of the passages which he has borrowed from the tragedies of Seneca.
  The work also includes the five treatises, four of them Christian, of
  which mention has been made above. King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon version
  of the _De Consolatione_, with literal English translation, notes and
  glossary, was published by S. Fox (1835) and again by W.J. Sedgefield
  (1900); that of G. Colville (Colvile, Coldewel, 1556) was republished
  by E.B. Bax (1897); translation (mixed prose and verse) by H.R. James
  (1897). Queen Elizabeth's "Englishings" was reprinted in 1899; on the
  style, see A. Engelbrecht in _Sitzungsber. der Wiener Akad. der
  Wissenschaften_ (1902), pp. 15-36. The _De Institutione Arithmetica,
  De Institutione Musica_, and the doubtful _Geometria_ (for which see
  G. Ernst, _De Geometricis illis quae sub Boethii nomine nobis tradita
  sunt quaestiones_, 1903; A.P. McKinlay in _Harvard Classical Studies_,
  1907; M. Cantor, _Geschichte der Mathematik_, i., Leipzig, 1894; G.
  Friedlein, _Gerbert, die Geometric des Boethius, und die indischen
  Ziffern_, Erlangen, 1861, are edited by G. Friedlein (Leipzig, 1867);
  German translation of the _De Musica_, with explanatory notes, by O.
  Paul (Leipzig, 1872), and on the sources W. Miekley, _De Boethii libri
  de musica primi fontibus_ (Jena, 1899). Commentary on Aristotle's _De
  Interpretatione_ [Greek: peri hermaeneias]), ed. C. Meiser (Leipzig,
  1877), and on Porphyry's _Isagoge_, ed. S. Brandt (Vienna, 1906).

  AUTHORITIES.--On Boetius generally, see J.G. Sutterer, _Der letzte
  Romer_ (Eichstadt, 1852); H. Usener, _Anecdoton Holderi_ (Leipzig,
  1877); H.F. Stewart, _Boethius: an Essay_ (Edinburgh, 1891); T.
  Hodgkin, _Italy and her Invaders_, iii. bk. iv. ch. xii. (1896); A.
  Ebert, _Allgemeine Geschichte der Litt. des Mittelalters_, i. (1889);
  Teuffel-Schwabe, _Hist. of Roman Literature_ (Eng. trans., 1900),
  §478: on the date and order of his works, S. Brandt in _Philologus_,
  lxii. pp. 141-154, 234-279, and A.P. McKinlay, as above, with refs.:
  on his "Songs," H. Hüttinger, _Studia in Boetii carmina collata_
  (Regensburg, 1900): on his style, G. Bednarz, _De universo orationis
  colore Boethii_ (Breslau, 1883): on his theological attitude and
  works, F.A.B. Nitzsch, _Das System des Boethius und die ihm
  zugeschriebenen theologischen Schriften_ (Berlin, 1860), and art. in
  Herzog-Hauck's _Realencyklopädie_ (1897); C. Jourdain, _De l'Origine
  des traditions sur le christianisme de Boèce_ (1861); Gaston Boissier,
  "Le Christianisme de Boèce," in _Journal des Savants_ (1889), pp.
  449-462; A. Hildebrand, _Boethius und seine Stellung zum Christentume_
  (Regensburg, 1885); G. Schepps, "Zu Pseudo-Boethius de fide
  catholica," in _Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Theologie_, xxxviii.
  (1895).




BOG (from Ir. and Gael, _bogach, bog_, soft), a tract of soft, spongy,
water-logged ground, composed of vegetation, chiefly mosses, in various
stages of decomposition. This vegetable matter when partially decomposed
forms the substance known as "peat" (q.v.). When the accumulation of
water is rapidly increased by excessive rainfall, there is a danger of a
"bog-slide," or "bog-burst," which may obliterate the neighbouring
cultivated land with a deposit of the contents of the bog. Destructive
bog-slides have occurred in Ireland, such as that of the Knocknageeha
Bog, Rathmore, Kerry, in 1896, at Castlerea, Roscommon, 1901, and at
Kilmore, Galway, 1909.

There is a French game of cards called "bog," said to be of Italian
origin, played with a piquet pack on a table with six divisions, one of
which is known by the name of the game and forms the pool. It was
fashionable during the Second Empire.




BOGATZKY, KARL HEINRICH VON (1690-1774), German hymn-writer, was born at
Jankowe in Lower Silesia on the 7th of September 1690. At first a page
at the ducal court of Saxe-Weissenfels, he next studied law and theology
at Jena and Halle; but ill-health preventing his preferment he settled
at Glancha in Silesia, where he founded an orphanage. After living for a
time at Köstritz, and from 1740 to 1745 at the court of Christian Ernst,
duke of Saxe-Coburg, at Saalfeld, he made his home at the Waisenhaus
(orphanage) at Halle, where he engaged in spiritual work and in
composing hymns and sacred songs, until his death on the 15th of June
1774. Bogatzky's chief works are _Güldenes Schatzkästlein der Kinder
Gottes_ (1718), which has reached more than sixty editions; and _Übung
der Gottseligkeit in allerlei geistlichen Liedern_ (1750).

  See Bogatzky's autobiography--_Lebenslauf von ihm selbst geschrieben_
  (Halle, 1801; new ed., Berlin, 1872); and Ledderhose, _Das Leben
  Bogatzky's_ (Heidelberg, 1846); also Kelly, _C.H. von Bogatzky's Life
  and Work_ (London, 1889).




BOGHAZ KEUI, a small village in Asia Minor, north-west of Yuzgat in the
Angora vilayet, remarkable for the ruins and rock-sculptures in its
vicinity. The ruins are those of a ruling city of the oriental type
which flourished in the pre-Greek period; and they are generally
identified with Pteria (q.v.), a place taken by Croesus after he had
crossed the Halys (Herodotus i. 76).




BOGIE, a northern English dialect word of unknown origin, applied to a
kind of low truck or "trolly." In railway engineering it is applied to
an under-truck, most frequently with four wheels, which is often
provided at one end of a locomotive or both ends of a carriage. It is
pivoted or swivelled on the main frames, so that it can turn relatively
to the body of the vehicle or engine, and thus it enables the wheels
readily to follow the curves of the line. It has no connexion with the
series of words, such as "bogey" or "bogy," "bogle," "boggle," "bogart"
(in Shakespeare "bug," "bugs and goblins"), which are probably connected
with the Welsh _bwg_, a spectre; hence the verb to "boggle," properly
applied to a horse which shies at supposed spectres, and so meaning to
hesitate, bungle.




BOGNOR, a seaside resort in the Chichester parliamentary division of
Sussex, England, 66 m. S.S.W. from London by the London, Brighton &
South Coast railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 6180. Besides the
parish church there is a Roman Catholic priory and church. The town
possesses a pier and promenade, a theatre, assembly rooms, and numerous
convalescent homes, including an establishment belonging to the Merchant
Taylors' Company. The church of the mother parish of South Bersted is
Norman and Early English, and retains a fresco of the 16th century.




BOGÓ, a town of the province of Cebú, island of Cebú, Philippine
Islands, on Bogó Bay at the mouth of the Bulac river, in the north-east
part of the island. Pop. (1903) 14,915. The climate is hot but healthy.
The surrounding country is fertile, producing sugar, Indian corn, and
maguay in abundance; rice, cacao and fruits are also produced. Hats,
baskets, cloths and rope are woven and are exported to a limited extent;
small quantities of copra are also exported. The fisheries are of
considerable local importance. The language is Cebú-Visayan.




BOGODUKHOV, a town of Russia, in the government of Kharkov, 45 m. by
rail N.W. of the city of that name, in 49° 58' N. lat. and 36° 9' E.
long., was formerly fortified. Pop. (1860) 10,522; (1897) 11,928. There
seems to have been a settlement on this site as early as 1571. In 1709,
at the time of the Russo-Swedish War, Bogodukhov was taken by Menshikov
and the emperor Alexius. It contains a cathedral, built in 1793. Boots,
caps and furred gowns are manufactured, and gardening and tanning are
carried on. The trade is principally in grain, cattle and fish.




BOGOMILS, the name of an ancient religious community which had its
origin in Bulgaria. It is difficult to ascertain whether the name was
taken from the reputed founder of that sect, a certain pope Bogumil or
Bogomil, or whether he assumed that name after it had been given to the
whole sect. The word is a direct translation into Slavonic of
_Massaliani_, the Syrian name of the sect corresponding to the Greek
Euchites. The Bogomils are identified with the Massaliani in Slavonic
documents of the 13th century. They are also known as _Pavlikeni_, i.e.
Paulicians. It is a complicated task to determine the true character and
the tenets of any ancient sect, considering that almost all the
information that has reached us has come from the opponents. The
heretical literature has to a great extent either perished or been
completely changed; but much has also survived in a modified written
form or through oral tradition. Concerning the Bogomils something can be
gathered from the information collected by Euthymius Zygadenus in the
12th century, and from the polemic _Against the Heretics_ written in
Slavonic by St Kozma during the 10th century. The old Slavonic lists of
forbidden books of the 15th and 16th centuries also give us a clue to
the discovery of this heretical literature and of the means the Bogomils
employed to carry on their propaganda. Much may also be learnt from the
doctrines of the numerous heretical sects which arose in Russia after
the 11th century.

The Bogomils were without doubt the connecting link between the
so-called heretical sects of the East and those of the West. They were,
moreover, the most active agents in disseminating such teachings in
Russia and among all the nations of Europe. They may have found in some
places a soil already prepared by more ancient tenets which had been
preserved in spite of the persecution of the official Church, and handed
down from the period of primitive Christianity. In the 12th and 13th
centuries the Bogomils were already known in the West as "Bulgari." In
1207 the _Bulgarornm heresis_ is mentioned. In 1223 the Albigenses are
declared to be the local _Bougres_, and at the same period mention is
made of the "Pope of the Albigenses who resided within the confines of
Bulgaria." The Cathars and Patarenes, the Waldenses, the Anabaptists,
and in Russia the Strigolniki, Molokani and Dukhobortsi, have all at
different times been either identified with the Bogomils or closely
connected with them.

_Doctrine._--From the imperfect and conflicting data which are alone
available one positive result can be gathered, viz. that the Bogomils
were both Adoptionists and Manichaeans. They had accepted the teaching
of Paul of Samosata, though at a later period the name of Paul was
believed to be that of the Apostle; and they were not quite free from
the Dualistic principle of the Gnostics, at a later period too much
identified with the teaching of Mani. They rejected the pneumatic
Christianity of the orthodox churches and did not accept the docetic
teaching of some of the other sects. Taking as our starting-point the
teaching of the heretical sects in Russia, notably those of the 14th
century, which are a direct continuation of the doctrines held by the
Bogomils, we find that they denied the divine birth of Christ, the
personal coexistence of the Son with the Father and Holy Ghost, and the
validity of sacraments and ceremonies. The miracles performed by Jesus
were interpreted in a spiritual sense, not as real material occurrences;
the Church was the interior spiritual church in which all held equal
share. Baptism was only to be practised on grown men and women. The
Bogomils repudiated infant baptism, and considered the baptismal rite to
be of a spiritual character neither by water nor by oil but by
self-abnegation, prayers and chanting of hymns. Carp Strigolnik, who in
the 14th century preached this doctrine in Novgorod, explained that St
Paul had taught that simple-minded men should instruct one another;
therefore they elected their "teachers" from among themselves to be
their spiritual guides, and had no special priests. Prayers were to be
said in private houses, not in separate buildings such as churches.
Ordination was conferred by the congregation and not by any specially
appointed minister. The congregation were the "elect," and each member
could obtain the perfection of Christ and become a Christ or "Chlist."
Marriage was not a sacrament. The Bogomils refused to fast on Mondays
and Fridays. They rejected monachism. They declared Christ to be the Son
of God only through grace like other prophets, and that the bread and
wine of the eucharist were not transformed into flesh and blood; that
the last judgment would be executed by God and not by Jesus; that the
images and the cross were idols and the worship of saints and relics
idolatry.

These Paulician doctrines have survived in the great Russian sects, and
can be traced back to the teachings and practice of the Bogomils. But in
addition to these doctrines of an adoptionist origin, they held the
Manichaean dualistic conception of the origin of the world. This has
been partly preserved in some of their literary remains, and has taken
deep root in the beliefs and traditions of the Bulgarians and other
nations with whom they had come into close contact. The chief literature
of all the heretical sects throughout the ages has been that of
apocryphal Biblical narratives, and the popes Jeremiah or Bogumil are
directly mentioned as authors of such forbidden books "which no orthodox
dare read." Though these writings are mostly the same in origin as are
known from the older lists of apocryphal books, they underwent in this
case a certain modification at the hands of their Bogomil editors, so as
to be used for the propagation of their own specific doctrines. In its
most simple and attractive form--one at the same time invested with the
authority of the reputed holy author--their account of the creation of
the world and of man; the origin of sin and redemption, the history of
the Cross, and the disputes between body and soul, right and wrong,
heaven and hell, were embodied either in "Historiated Bibles"
(Paleya[1]) or in special dialogues held between Christ and his
disciples, or between renowned Fathers of the Church who expounded these
views in a simple manner adapted to the understanding of the people
(Lucidaria). The Bogomils taught that God had two sons, the elder
Satanail and the younger Michael. The elder son rebelled against the
father and became the evil spirit. After his fall he created the lower
heavens and the earth and tried in vain to create man; in the end he had
to appeal to God for the Spirit. After creation Adam was allowed to till
the ground on condition that he sold himself and his posterity to the
owner of the earth. Then Michael was sent in the form of a man; he
became identified with Jesus, and was "elected" by God after the baptism
in the Jordan. When the Holy Ghost (Michael) appeared in the shape of
the dove, Jesus received power to break the covenant in the form of a
clay tablet (_hierographon_) held by Satanail from Adam. He had now
become the angel Michael in a human form; as such he vanquished
Satanail, and deprived him of the termination _-il_ = God, in which his
power resided. Satanail was thus transformed into Satan. Through his
machinations the crucifixion took place, and Satan was the originator of
the whole Orthodox community with its churches, vestments, ceremonies,
sacraments and fasts, with its monks and priests. This world being the
work of Satan, the perfect must eschew any and every excess of its
pleasure. But the Bogomils did not go as far as to recommend asceticism.
They held the "Lord's Prayer" in high respect as the most potent weapon
against Satan, and had a number of conjurations against "evil spirits."
Each community had its own twelve "apostles," and women could be raised
to the rank of "elect." The Bogomils wore garments like mendicant friars
and were known as keen missionaries, travelling far and wide to
propagate their doctrines. Healing the sick and conjuring the evil
spirit, they traversed different countries and spread their apocryphal
literature along with some of the books of the Old Testament, deeply
influencing the religious spirit of the nations, and preparing them for
the Reformation. They sowed the seeds of a rich religious popular
literature in the East as well as in the West. The Historiated Bible,
the Letter from Heaven, the Wanderings through Heaven and Hell, the
numerous Adam and Cross legends, the religious poems of the "Kalëki
perehozhie" and other similar productions owe their dissemination to a
large extent to the activity of the Bogomils of Bulgaria, and their
successors in other lands.

_History._--The Bogomil propaganda follows the mountain chains of
central Europe, starting from the Balkans and continuing along the
Carpathian Mountains, the Alps and the Pyrenees, with ramifications
north and south (Germany, England and Spain). In the middle of the 8th
century the emperor Constantine Copronymus settled a number of Armenian
Paulicians in Thracia. These were noted heretics and were persecuted by
the Greek Church with fire and sword. The empress Theodora killed,
drowned or hanged no fewer than 100,000. In the 10th century the emperor
John Zimisces, himself of Armenian origin, transplanted no less than
200,000 Armenian Paulicians to Europe and settled them in the
neighbourhood of Philippopolis, which henceforth became the centre of a
far-reaching propaganda. Settled along the Balkans as a kind of bulwark
against the invading Bulgars, the Armenians on the contrary soon
fraternized with the newcomers, whom they converted to their own views;
even a prince of the Bulgarians adopted their teaching. According to
Slavonic documents the founder of this sect was a certain priest
Bogumil, who "imbibed the Manichaean teaching and flourished at the time
of the Bulgarian emperor Peter" (927-968). According to another source
the founder was called Jeremiah (or there was another priest associated
with him by the name of Jeremiah). The Slavonic sources are unanimous on
the point that his teaching was Manichaean. A Synodikon from the year
1210 adds the names of his pupils or "apostles," Mihail, Todur, Dobri,
Stefan, Vasilie and Peter, all thoroughly Slavonic names. Zealous
missionaries carried their doctrines far and wide. In 1004, scarcely 15
years after the introduction of Christianity into Russia, we hear of a
priest Adrian teaching the same doctrines as the Bogomils. He was
imprisoned by Leontie, bishop of Kiev. In 1125 the Church in the south
of Russia had to combat another heresiarch named Dmitri. The Church in
Bulgaria also tried to extirpate Bogomilism. The popes in Rome whilst
leading the Crusade against the Albigenses did not forget their
counterpart in the Balkans and recommended the annihilation of the
heretics.

The Bogomils spread westwards, and settled first in Servia; but at the
end of the 12th century Stephen Nemanya, king of Servia, persecuted them
and expelled them from the country. Large numbers took refuge in Bosnia,
where they were known under the name of Patarenes (q.v.) or Patareni.
From Bosnia their influence extended into Italy (Piedmont). The
Hungarians undertook many crusades against the heretics in Bosnia, but
towards the close of the 15th century the conquest of that country by
the Turks put an end to their persecution. It is alleged that a large
number of the Bosnian Paterenes, and especially the nobles, embraced
Islam (see BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: _History_). Few or no remnants of
Bogomilism have survived in Bosnia. The Ritual in Slavonic written by
the Bosnian Radoslavov, and published in vol. xv. of the _Starine_ of
the South Slavonic Academy at Agram, shows great resemblance to the
Cathar ritual published by Cunitz, 1853. See F. Racki, "Bogomili i
Paternai" in _Rad_, vols. vii., viii. and x. (Agram, 1870); Döllinger,
_Beiträge zur Ketzergeschichte d. Mittelalters_, 2 vols. (Munich, 1890).

Under Turkish rule the Bogomils lived unmolested as _Pavlikeni_ in
their ancient stronghold near Philippopolis, and farther northward. In
1650 the Roman Catholic Church gathered them into its fold. No less than
fourteen villages near Nicopolis embraced Catholicism, and a colony of
_Pavlikeni_ in the village of Cioplea near Bucharest followed the
example of their brethren across the Danube.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Euthymius Zygadenus, _Narratio de Bogomilis_, ed.
  Gieseler (Göttingen, 1842); J.C. Wolf, _Historia Bogomilorum_
  (Wittenberg, 1712); "Slovo svyatago Kozmyi na eretiki," in Kukuljevic
  Sakcinski, _Arkiv zapovyestnicu jugoslavensku_, vol. iv. pp. 69-97
  (Agram, 1859); C.J. Jirecek, _Geschichte d. Bulgaren_, pp. 155,
  174-175 (Prague, 1876); Korolev, "Dogmatichesko-to uchenie na
  Bogomil-tie," in _Periodichesko spisanie_, vols. vii.-viii. pp. 75-106
  (Braila, 1873); A. Lombard, _Pauliciens, Bulgares et Bons-hommes_
  (Geneva, 1879); Episcopul Melchisedek, _Lipovenismul_, pp. 265 sqq.
  (Bucharest, 1871); B.P. Hasdeu, _Cuvente den batrani_, vol. ii. pp.
  247 sqq. (Bucharest, 1879); F.C. Conybeare, _The Key of Truth_, pp. 73
  sqq. and specially pp. 138 sqq. (Oxford, 1898); M. Gaster,
  _Greeko-Slavonic Literature_, pp. 17 sqq. (London, 1887); O.
  Dähnhardt, _Natursagen_, vol. i. pp. 38 sqq. (Leipzig and Berlin,
  1907).     (M. G.)


FOOTNOTE:

  [1] These betray their Gnostic (Marcianite) spirit by the anti-Jewish
    tone of the oldest MSS. extant, though this prejudice tends to
    decrease in later MSS.




BOGORODSK, a town of central Russia, in the government of Moscow, and 38
m. by rail E.N.E. of the city of Moscow, on the Klyazma. It has woollen,
cotton and silk mills, chemical factories and dye-works, and is famous
for its gold brocade. Pop. (1897) 11,210.




BOGOS (BILENS), a pastoral race of mixed Hamitic descent, occupying the
highlands immediately north of Abyssinia, now part of the Italian colony
of Eritrea. They were formerly a self-governing community, though
subject to Abyssinia. The community is divided into two classes, the
_Shumaglieh_ or "elders" and _Tigré_ or "clients." The latter are serfs
of the former, who, however, cannot sell them. The Tigré goes with the
land, and his master must protect him. In blood-money he is worth
another Tigré or ninety-three cows, while an elder's life is valued at
one hundred and fifty-eight cattle or one of his own caste. The eldest
son of a Shumaglieh inherits his father's two-edged sword, white cows,
lands and slaves, but the house goes to the youngest son. Female
chastity is much valued, but women have no rights, inherit nothing, and
are classed with the hyaena, the most despised animal throughout
Abyssinia. The Bogo husband never sees the face or pronounces the name
of his mother-in-law, while it is a crime for a wife to utter her
husband's or father-in-law's name.




BOGOTÁ, or SANTA FÉ DE BOGOTÁ, the capital of the republic of Colombia,
and of the interior department of Cundinamarca, in 4° 6' N. lat. and 78°
30' W. long. Pop. about 125,000. The city is on the eastern margin of a
large elevated plateau 8563 ft. above sea-level. The plateau may be
described as a great bench or shelf on the western slope of the oriental
Cordilleras, about 70 m. long and 30 m. wide, with a low rim on its
western margin and backed by a high ridge on the east. The plain forming
the plateau is well watered with numerous small lakes and streams. These
several small streams, one of which, the San Francisco, passes through
the city, unite near the south-western extremity of the plateau and form
the Rio Funza, or Bogotá, which finally plunges over the edge at
Tequendama in a beautiful, perpendicular fall of about 475 ft. The city
is built upon a sloping plain at the base of two high mountains La
Gaudalupe and Monserrate, upon whose crests stand two imposing churches.
From a broad avenue on the upper side downward to the west slope the
streets, through which run streams of cool, fresh water from the
mountains above. The north and south streets cross these at right
angles, and the blocks thus formed are like great terraces. A number of
handsomely-laid-out plazas, or squares, ornamented with gardens and
statuary, have been preserved; on these face the principal public
buildings and churches. In Plaza Bolivar is a statue of Bolivar by
Pietro Tenerani (1789-1869), a pupil of Canova, and in Plaza Santandér
is one of General Francisco de Paula Santandér (1792-1840). Facing on
Plaza de la Constitución are the capitol and cathedral. The streets are
narrow and straight, but as a rule they are clean and well paved. Owing
to the prevalence of earthquakes, private houses are usually of one
storey only, and are built of sun-dried bricks, white-washed. But few
of the public buildings are imposing in appearance, though good taste in
style and decoration are often shown.

The city occupies an area of about 2½ × 1½ m. It has street cars,
electric light and telephones. Short lines of railway connect it with
Facatativa (24 m.) on the road to Honda, and with Zipaquira, where
extensive salt mines are worked. A line of railway was also under
construction in 1906 to Jirardot, at the head of navigation on the upper
Magdalena. Bogotá is an archiepiscopal see, founded in 1561, and is one
of the strongholds of medieval clericalism in South America. It has a
cathedral, rebuilt in 1814, and some 30 other churches, together with
many old conventual buildings now used for secular purposes, their
religious communities having been dissolved by Mosquera and their
revenues devoted in great measure to education. The capitol, which is
occupied by the executive and legislative departments, is an elegant and
spacious building, erected since 1875. The interest which Bogotá has
always taken in education, and because of which she has been called the
"Athens of South America," is shown in the number and character of her
institutions of learning--a university, three endowed colleges, a school
of chemistry and mineralogy, a national academy, a military school, a
public library with some 50,000 volumes, a national observatory, a
natural history museum and a botanic garden. The city also possesses a
well-equipped mint, little used in recent years. The plain surrounding
the city is very fertile, and pastures cattle and produces cereals,
vegetables and fruit in abundance. It was the centre of Chibcha
civilization before the Spanish conquest and sustained a large
population. The climate is mild and temperate, the average annual
temperature being about 58° and the rainfall about 43½ in. The
geographical location of the city is unfavourable to any great
development in commerce and manufactures beyond local needs.

Bogotá was founded in 1538 by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and was named
Santa Fé de Bogotá after his birthplace Santa Fé, and after the southern
capital of the Chibchas, Bacatá (or Funza). It was made the capital of
the viceroyalty of Nueva Granada, and soon became one of the centres of
Spanish colonial power and civilization on the South American continent.
In 1811 its citizens revolted against Spanish rule and set up a
government of their own, but in 1816 the city was occupied by Pablo
Morillo (1777-1838), the Spanish general, who subjected it to a ruthless
military government until 1819, when Bolivar's victory at Boyacá
compelled its evacuation. On the creation of the republic of Colombia,
Bogotá became its capital, and when that republic was dissolved into its
three constituent parts it remained the capital of Nueva Granada. It has
been the scene of many important events in the chequered history of
Colombia.     (A. J. L.)




BOGRA, or BAGURA, a town and district of British India, in the Rajshahi
division of eastern Bengal and Assam. The town is situated on the right
bank of the river Karatoya. Pop. (1901) 7094. The DISTRICT OF BOGRA,
which was first formed in 1821, lies west of the main channel of the
Brahmaputra. It contains an area of 1359 sq. m. In 1901 the population
(on a reduced area) was 854,533, showing an increase of 11% in the
decade. The district stretches out in a level plain, intersected by
numerous streams and dotted with patches of jungle. The Karatoya river
flows from north to south, dividing it into two portions, possessing
very distinct characteristics. The eastern tract consists of rich
alluvial soil, well watered, and subject to fertilizing inundations,
yielding heavy crops of coarse rice, oil-seeds and jute. The western
portion of the district is high-lying and produces the finer qualities
of rice. The principal rivers are formed by the different channels of
the Brahmaputra, which river here bears the local names of the Konai,
the Daokoba and the Jamuna, the last forming a portion of the eastern
boundary of the district. Its bed is studded with alluvial islands. The
Brahmaputra and its channels, together with three minor streams, the
Bangali, Karatoya and Atrai, afford admirable facilities for commerce,
and render every part of the district accessible to native cargo boats
of large burden. The rivers swarm with fish. The former production of
indigo is extinct, and the industry of silk-spinning is decaying. There
is no town with as many as 10,000 inhabitants, trade being conducted at
riverside marts. Nor are there any metalled roads. Several lines of
railway (the Eastern Bengal, &c.), however, serve the district.




BOGUE, DAVID (1750-1825), British nonconformist divine, was born in the
parish of Coldingham, Berwickshire. After a course of study in
Edinburgh, he was licensed to preach by the Church of Scotland, but made
his way to London (1721), where he taught in schools at Edmonton,
Hampstead and Camberwell. He then settled as minister of the
Congregational church at Gosport in Hampshire (1777), and to his
pastoral duties added the charge of an institution for preparing men for
the ministry. It was the age of the new-born missionary enterprise, and
Bogue's academy was in a very large measure the seed from which the
London Missionary Society took its growth. Bogue himself would have gone
to India in 1796 but for the opposition of the East India Company. He
also had much to do with founding the British and Foreign Bible Society
and the Religious Tract Society, and in conjunction with James Bennet,
minister at Romsey, wrote a well-known _History of Dissenters_ (3 vols.,
1809). Another of his writings was an _Essay on the Divine Authority of
the New Testament_. He died at Brighton on the 25th of October 1825.




BOGUS (of uncertain origin, possibly connected with the Fr. _bagasse_,
sugar-cane refuse), a slang word, originally used in America of the
apparatus employed in counterfeiting coins, and now generally of any
sham or spurious transaction.




BOHEA (a word derived from the Wu-i hills in the Fuhkien province of
China, b being substituted for W or V), a kind of black tea (q.v.), or,
in the 18th and early 19th centuries, tea generally, as in Pope's line,
"So past her time 'twixt reading and bohea." Later the name "bohea" has
been applied to an inferior quality of tea grown late in the season.