Images de page
PDF
ePub

BOPPARD-BORAGE.

Grammar. His great work in this department is a
Comparative Grammar of the Sanscrit, Zend, Greek,
Latin, Lithuanian, Old Slavonian, Gothic, and
German ( Vergleichende Grammatik, &c., Berl. 1833,
&c.; a second edition, entirely recast, was published
in 1857).
An English translation by Lieutenant
Eastwick, and conducted through the press by
Mr. Wilson Boden, professor of Sanscrit in Oxford
University, was published in 3 vols. 1845-1850.
In recognition of his splendid services to philology,
he was, in 1842, made a knight of the newly erected
French Ordre du Merite, and in 1857, foreign associate
of the French Institute. He died Oct. 23, 1867.

BO'PPARD or BO'PPART (ancient Baudobriga), a walled town of Rhenish Prussia, situated on the left bank of the Rhine, about nine miles south of Coblenz. B. is a busy manufacturing place, with dirty, narrow streets, and its houses are chiefly of wood. Its appearance, however, is picturesque, and it has several buildings, architecturally remark-to the lower regions.

able. The church of the Carmelites contains some

fine specimens of 16th c. sculpture. During the middle ages, B. was an imperial city, and many councils were held in it. Remains of the Roman fortress built by Drusus still exist in the centre of the town. Pop. 3680.

[ocr errors]

BORA, KATHARINA VON, or CATHARINE DE BORA, the wife of Luther, was born, it is supposed, at Löben, near Schweinitz, in Saxony, on 29th January, 1499. At a very early age, she entered the Cistercian convent of Nimptschen, near Grimma. Becoming acquainted with Luther's doctrines, she found herself very unhappy in her monastic life; and finally, along with eight other nuns, whose relatives, like her own, refused to listen to them, she applied for assistance to Luther. Luther obtained the service of Leonhard Koppo, a citizen of Torgau, and by him and a few associates the nine nuns were liberated from the convent in April 1523. They were brought to Wittenberg, where Luther had suitably provided for their reception. Catharine became an inmate in the house of the burgomaster Reichenbach. Luther through his friend, Nicholas von Amsdorf, minister in Wittenberg, offered her the hand of Doctor Kaspar Glaz, who became pastor in Orlamünde. She declined this proposal, but declared herself ready to marry Von Amsdorf, or Luther himself, who had already laid aside his monastic dress. Her marriage with Luther took place on 13th June 1525, and was made the occasion of much unjust reproach by his enemies, which has not ceased to be repeated to this day. In his will, he left her all that he had, so long as she should remain a widow, because, as he says, she had always been an affectionate and true wife to him. After Luther's death, the Elector of Saxony and Christian III. of Denmark contributed from time to time to her support. She died at Torgau on 20th December 1552.

BORA'CIC A'CID is found native (1) in the stream or vapour which rises from certain volcanic rocks in Tuscany, and (2) as a saline incrustation in the crater of a mountain in the island Volcano, which is situated 12 miles north of Sicily. This crater is about 700 feet deep, the sides lined with a crust of B. A. about half an inch thick and is sufficient to yield an annual supply of 2000 tons. B. A. also occurs in combination in Borax (q. v.), Datholite (q. v.), Boracite, and other minerals, and to a very minute extent in traprocks generally. The Tuscan supply of B. A. may be regarded as the most important, and its collection takes place over an area of about 30 miles. The plan pursued is to form a series of caldrons-100 to 1000 feet in diameter, and 7 to 20 feet deep-partly by excavation, and partly

by building, in the side of the volcanic mountain where the steam and B. A. vapours are issuing from fissures, and divert the course of a mountain stream, so that at pleasure the caldrons, or lagoons, may be supplied with water. As the volcanic vapourscalled suffioni-gurgle through the water contained in the lagoons, the B. A. is arrested by the water, which becomes impregnated with it. The liquid is passed from one lagoon to another, then on to settling vats and flat-bottomed evaporating pans, till it becomes so concentrated that on cooling, impure crystals of B. A. separate. In this condition it is sent to England and other countries. which thousands of jets of steam are constantly The appearance of the surface of the ground, from issuing, is very striking; and the name given to one of the principal mountains, Monte Cerboli (Mons Cerberi), denotes the feeling of awe with which the peasantry regarded the district as the entrance Native B. A. is employed as a source of borax (q. v.), and contains about three-fourths of its weight of true B. A., accompanied by one-fourth of water and impurities. In a pure condition, B. A. may be prepared by dissolving 40 parts of borax (Na2B207) in 100 of water, and acting thereon by 25 parts of hydrochloric acid (HCI), which removes the soda, forming chloride of sodium (NaCl) and water (HO), and on cooling the mixture, the B. A. (H3BO3) crystallises out. On re-solution in water and re-crystallisation, it is obtained in pure white leathery crystals. B. A. is used in the arts as a flux, as an ingredient in the glaze employed in pottery; and the wicks of stearine and composite candles are treated with it, so that when the candle is burning, the end of the wick when it gets long, may fuse and fall to the side, where it can be burned away. The exportation of B. A. from the Tuscan lagoons exceeds 3,000,000 lbs. annually.

BO'RAGE (Borāgo), a genus of plants of the

[graphic][subsumed][merged small][merged small]

BORAGINE E-BORDEAUX.

the style, in the form of a cone. The species are few, | chiefly natives of the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. The COMMON BORAGE (B. officinalis) is found in waste places in many parts of Europe, and is pretty frequent-perhaps naturalised-in Britain. It is a plant of rather coarse appearance, with a stout erect herbaceous stem, 1-2 feet high, somewhat branched; the lower leaves elliptical, obtuse, tapering to the base; the stem, leaves, flowerstalks, and calyx rough with hairs. The flowers are more than half an inch broad, of a beautiful | water (NaO,2B0, + 10HO); but if a stronger than blue colour. B. was formerly much cultivated and highly esteemed, being reckoned amongst the cordial flowers, and supposed to possess exhilarating qualities, for which it no longer receives credit. The belief in its virtues was at one time extremely prevalent in England, and its use accordingly universal. The flowers were put into salads, Gerarde tells us (1597), 'to make the mind glad; and he adds: There be also many things made of them, used everywhere for the comfort of the heart, for the driving away of sorrow, and increasing the joy of the mind.' Like some other plants of the same order, B. contains nitrate of potash (nitre), and is slightly febrifuge. It is mucilaginous and emollient, and has been used in pectoral affections; its leaves impart a coolness to beverages in which they are steeped; and with wine, water, lemon, and sugar, enter into the composition of an English drink called a cool tankard. The young leaves and tender tops are pickled, and occasionally boiled for the table.

BORAGI'NEÆ, or BORAGINA'CEÆ, a natural order of dicotyledonous plants, consisting chiefly of herbaceous plants, but also containing shrubs and even trees, the leaves generally rough with hairs which proceed from a thick hard base, and the whole plant mucilaginous and emollient. The leaves are alternate and without stipules. The flowers are in spikes, racemes, or panicles which are almost always coiled up, and gradually uncoil and elongate themselves, the flowers expanding in succession. The calyx is 4-5-partite, and remains till the fruit is ripe; the corolla is generally regular, 4-5-cleft, imbricated in bud; the stamens rise from the corolla, and are equal in number to its divisions generally five-and alternate with them. The ovary is 4-partite, 4-celled; the style simple, arising from the base of the lobes of the ovary. The fruit consists of 4-or sometimes of 2-distinct achenia. See ACHENIUM.-The order Ehretiacea of some botanists differs chiefly in the fruit, which in the more typical species is a succulent drupe; and in the Heliotropes consists of four dry achenia more or less consolidated.-There are about 600 known species of the proper Boragineæ, and about 300 of Ehretiacea. The former are natives principally of temperate climates, and are particularly abundant in the south of Europe and in the temperate parts of Asia; the latter are more tropical, but not exclusively so. BORAGE (q. v.), ALKANET (q. v.), COMFREY (q. v.), and FORGET-ME-NOT (q. v.), are familiar examples of the former; the exquisitely fragrant HELIOTROPE (q. v.) is the best known of the latter. The drupes of some species of Ehretia

are eatable.

BORA'SSUS. See PALMYRA PALM.

BO'RAX, or BIBO'RATE OF SODA, is found native as a saline incrustation on the shores of certain lakes in Persia and Thibet. It also occurs in India, China, Ceylon, California and S. America. When collected on the banks of the lakes, it is impure, and goes by the name of tincal. The latter is purified by acting upon it with a solution of caustic soda, which removes the fatty matter that the

crystals are coated with, to prevent evaporation of
the water they contain, and thereafter dissolving
in hot water and recrystallising. B. is likewise
prepared from boracic acid (BO3), (q. v.), by solution
in boiling water, and the addition of a boiling solu-
tion of ordinary carbonate of soda (NaOCO2), when
B. (NaO,2BOs) is formed, and carbonic acid (CO2)
is disengaged, and on cooling in wooden tanks lined
with lead, the crystals of B. separate. The common
crystalline variety of B. contains 10 equivalents of
ordinary solution be allowed to cool, crystals begin
to separate at a higher temperature than usual,
which contain only 5 atoms of water (Na0,2B0, +
5HO). B. is soluble in water to the extent of one
part of the salt in two parts of hot
water, and in twelve of cold, yielding a
clear solution with a sweetish taste. It
is readily reduced to powder, and is then
known as powdered borax. It is of great
use in the chemical arts. As an assist-
ant agent in experimenting with the
blow-pipe (q. v.), B. is of great service,
from the readiness with which it forms Crystal of
coloured glasses with the various metal- Borax.
lic oxides. It is also employed in the
manufacture of enamel, and for glazing or coating
vessels in English pottery, as also in the formation
of the paste for artificial gems. To the metallurgist,
it is an aid in the readiness with which it promotes
the fusion of metallic mixtures, and the separation
of the metals; and to the solderer of all metals it is
of service in forming a thin glassy coating over the
edges of the metals, which prevents their oxidation
at the time they are being joined together. B. is
also used in dyeing.

BORDA, JEAN CHARLES, an eminent practical mathematician and astronomer, was born on 4th May 1733 at Dax, in the department of the Landes, in France. In 1771, he was associated with Verdun and Pingré in proving the accuracy of chronometers. He also devoted much attention to the subject of ship-building, and suggested great improvements in the form of vessels. In 1787 he took an active part in bringing the observatories of Paris and Greenwich into closer relations with one another. Along with Delambre and Méchain, he was a leading member of the French commission intrusted with the measurement of a meridiau are. He rendered essential service in the commission on the new system of weights and measures. He invented a new instrument for measuring the inclination of the magnetic needle; and his corrections of the seconds' pendulum are still in use. But his reputation depends most of all on his improvement of the reflecting circle, on which instrument he published a work in two volumes (Par. 1787). He died at Paris on the 20th February 1799.

south-west of France, beautifully situated in a plain BORDEAUX, an important seaport town in the its mouth in the Atlantic. Ships of more than 1000 on the left bank of the Garonne, about 60 miles from tons' burden can easily ascend the river at high water to B., which is accessible at all times of the tide to vessels of 600 tons. Its harbour is very capacious ; and, by the Garonne, its commerce very extensive. The river is crossed by a noble bridge of 17 arches. and 532 yards in length, erected by the elder Deschamps in 1811-1821. The old town, consisting partly of high wooden houses of the 15th c., has narrow crooked streets; but the newer parts of the city and the suburbs have wide streets, fine squares, and pleasant promenades lined with trees. The cathedral, which was consecrated in 1096, is remarkable for its beautiful towers. The church

BORDELAIS-BORDER.

of St. Croix is a building of the 10th c.; that of St. Seurin is also very old, and has rare Gothic ornaments. The former archiepiscopal palace is now the town-hall. The Great Theatre is one of the largest and finest buildings of its kind in France. B. has many other fine public buildings, and learned associations, and educational and benevolent institutions, with a public library of upwards of 120,000 volumes. The university, founded by Pope Eugenius IV. in 1441, has been, since 1839, an Académie Universitaire, with four faculties and fifteen professorships. Pop. in 1861, 162,750.

Among the principal branches of industry are the production or preparation of sugar, brandy, liqueurs, vinegar, nitric acid, printed calicoes, woollen goods, carpets, hats, paper, earthenware, glass bottles, metallic wires, &c. The rope-works, cooperages, and dockyards are extensive and full of activity. The Canal du Midi, connecting B. with the Mediterranean, enables it to supply the whole south of France with the colonial produce which it imports; and also with English tin, lead, copper, coal, dye-stuffs, herrings, &c. Wine, brandy, vinegar, dried fruits, hams, turpentine, and glass bottles are among its principal exports.-In former times, B. was called Burdigala, and was the capital of the Bituriges Vivisci. It was a very prosperous town in the times of the Romans, was made by Hadrian the capital of Aquitania Secunda, and was both the principal emporium of the south-west of Gaul, and the seat of its best educational institutions. Remains of the Roman period still exist. After suffering greatly at the hands of Vandals, Goths, Franks, and Spanish Arabs, it was taken by Charles Martel in 735; but was again spoiled by Norman plunderers in the 9th century. It became the capital of the Duchy of Guienne; and in 1152 passed, by the marriage of Eleanor of Guienne with Henry of Normandy (afterwards Henry II. of England), under the dominion of England. From the English, B. received important liberties and privileges; they encouraged its commerce; and it was for a considerable time the seat of the splendid and chivalric court of Edward the Black Prince. It strongly supported the cause of England against France, but was taken by Charles VII. in 1451. It rose against the imposition of the salt-tax in 1548, and was visited with bloody vengeance by the Constable Montmorenci. The horrors of St. Bartholomew's Day were repeated here, from 3d to 5th October, 1572, by the governor, Montferrand, and 2500 persons perished. During the Revolution, B. was the principal seat of the Girondists, and suffered fearfully at the hands of the Terrorists. The pressure of Napoleon's continental system made its inhabitants disaffected to his government, and they were the first of the French to declare for the Bourbons in 1814.

The wines produced in the neighbourhood of B., and forming one of its principal exports, are called Bordeaux Wines. Except the wines of Champagne no French wines are so much exported to foreign countries. Some of them are red (known in England as Claret), others white. Of the red wines, the Medoc is one of the best known. The red wines produced by the vineyards of Lafitte, Latour, Château-Margaux, and Haut-Brion, are particularly celebrated for their quality. The white wines of Graves, and those of Sauternes, Barsac, Preignac, and Langon are in highest repute.

BORDELAIS, a district of France, once forming part of the old province of Guienne, and having Bordeaux for its capital, but now included in the departments of Gironde and Landes.

BO'RDER, THE, is a term employed in historical as well as popular phraseology to signify the

common frontier of England and Scotland. At present, the dividing boundary of the two countries consists partly of natural and partly of imaginary outlines. It is customary to speak of Scotland as a country north of the Tweed;' but the Tweed is the boundary only in a small part of its course, on the east, and large portions of several Scottish counties lie to the south of that river. Even at its mouth, the Tweed is not the division; for north of the river at its estuary lies the ancient town of Berwick, with the district known as its 'bounds,' which belong to Northumberland. The Tweed forms the division only for about 16 to 18 miles. Leaving the river at Carham Burn, a few miles above Coldstream, the line proceeds towards the Cheviot mountains, the ridge of which is the boundary for about 25 miles; descending thence, the line strikes on Kershope Water, a tributary of the Esk. That river is the boundary for a number of miles to a point above Longtown. The line now quits the Esk abruptly in a northern direction, and taking into England part of what was known as the 'Debatable Land' (q. v.), strikes on the small river Sark, which is the boundary to the Solway Firth, the great natural division on the west. Such, in general terms, is the entire boundary, extending from sea to sea for about 100 miles, in which length the Tweed obviously plays an inferior part. The counties lying on the English side of the border are Northumberland and Cumberland; on the Scottish side, Berwickshire, Roxburghshire, and Dumfriesshire. Readers of history are aware that the division here indicated is comparatively modern; in former times, the frontier shifted according to the surging tide of war or diplomacy. For several ages prior to the 11th c., the kingdom of Northumbria, forming a part of what we now call England, included all that portion of Scotland south of the Firth of Forth as far west as Stirling. As a result of some warlike operations, this district was ceded by the Earl of Northumberland to Malcolm II., king of Scots, 1018, and ever since the Tweed, in its lower part, has been the boundary. What, however, was gained by Scotland on the east was lost on the west; for William the Conqueror wrenched Cumberland from the northern sovereign; and with little intermission the boundary in this quarter was settled according to its present limits.

commemo

It may be said that from the 11th till the end of the 17th c., there was almost constant disturbance on the border. Ruthless wars on a great scale between English and Scots sometimes caused the most frightful devastation, and became the source of lasting ill-will on both sides. History abounds in events of this kind, and the feuds and forays of clans and families are rated in a series of ballads, for ever embalmed in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, by Sir Walter Scott. The most notable of these forays from the Scottish side is narrated in the ballad of the Battle of Otterburne, or, as it is sometimes called, Chevy Chase. The event referred to occurred in 1388. Among the latest of the regular invasions from England was that in 1543, in the reign of Henry VIII., conducted by the Earl of Hertford, The invasion was by the eastern marches, and in their devastating course, the English army set fire to and destroyed all the towns, villages, monasteries, and numerous castles within a wide range of country.

sioners had been appointed to repress petty insurAt an early date, wardens and commisrections, and punish the moss-troopers who made cattle-lifting from their neighbours on the opposite side of the border a kind of profession. For these measures of police, the border was divided into three parts-the east, middle, and western marches. Such

BORDER-BORDER-WARRANT.

was the lawlessness in the early part of the 16th c., that in 1511, Sir Robert Kerr, warden of the eastern marches, was slain at a border meeting by three Englishmen. The principal murderer escaped as far as York, and for a time tried to conceal himself; but he was sought out by two of Sir Robert's followers, who brought his head to their new master, by whom, in memorial of their vengeance, it was exposed at the cross of Edinburgh (Scott's Essay on Border Antiquities). Sometimes the Scottish borderers met ostensibly to amuse themselves with the ancient sport of football, but in reality to plan and execute daring military exploits. During the reigns of Elizabeth and James VI., strenuous efforts were made to preserve peace on the border, and this was attained only by extraordinary severities. Many of the more audacious reivers were were hanged, and great numbers were banished. Some account of the measures adopted at this period to suppress border outrages will be found in the Memoirs of Sir Robert Cary, who long acted as English warden on the marches; also in the Domestic Annals of Scotland, by R. Chambers, vol. i. After the accession of James to the English throne, a sweeping clearance of the Scottish border was effected. The laird of Buccleuch collected under his banners the most desperate of the border marauders, whom he formed into a legion for the service of the states of Holland. At the same time, the Debatable Land was cleared of the Græmes, a daring sept of freebooters, who were transported to Ireland, and their return prohibited under pain of death. The legislative union of 1707, and the firm administration of justice, along with a general improvement in manners, finally terminated the long course of misrule.

1

[ocr errors]

and Widdrington. The English border castles of every kind appear to have been of greater splendour and strength than those on the Scottish side. 'Raby Castle, still inhabited, attests the magnificence of the great Nevilles, Earls of Westmoreland; and the lowering strength of Naworth shews the power of the Dacres' (Scott). On the English side, however, there is nothing which can be compared to the ruins of that remarkable group of Scottish border abbeys-Melrose, Dryburgh, Kelso, and Jedburgh, not to speak of the remains of various other religious houses. For an account of these and other architectural remains on the border, we must refer to the Border Antiquities of England and Scotland, by Sir Walter Scott, 2 vols. folio, illustrated with plates; also to Billings's Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland, 4 vols. 4to, illustrated with plates.

Assimilated in habits to the rest of the population, the old Scottish border families are still distinguishable by their surnames-as, for example, the Maxwells, Johnstons, and Jardines on the west, and the Elliots, Armstrongs, Scotts, and Kerrs on the middle and eastern marches. The principal Scottish border families of rank are the Scotts, Dukes of Buccleuch, descendants of a famed border chief, Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch; and the Kerrs, Dukes of Roxburgh, who are sprung from an equally celebrated borderer, Sir Robert Kerr of Cessford. The possessions of both families are extensive, particularly those of Buccleuch (q. v.), which spread through several counties. The family of corresponding rank within the English border is that of the Percies, Dukes of Northumberland. Local intercourse across the border is considerably obstructed by the long range of hills and the moors which generally lie on the line of boundary; and the circumstance of the peculiar civil and ecclesiastical institutions of the two kingdoms shedding off here towards different centres, still further tends to lessen community of feeling. At no distant day, certain exciseable articles were charged with a less duty in Scotland than England, and the consequence was an active contraband trade on the border, chiefly by the mountain-passes and the Solway. Now, these duties are assimilated, and this demoralising kind of traffic has disappeared. The great channels of communication across the border are two lines of railway, one by way of Berwick, and the other by Carlisle. There are also good roads in various directions for those who wish to explore this interesting district of country. Besides the books relative to the border already referred to, there are some works of local note, among which the most comprehensive is Richardson's Borderer's Table-book, 8 vols. royal 8vo (Newcastle-on-Tyne); we may also refer to Jeffrey's History and Antiquities of Roxburghshire, 3 vols. ; and Ridpath's Border History, 1 vol. 4to.

In the present day, there is nothing to distinguish the border from other districts of the country, unless it be the prevalence of picturesque ruins of old castles, generally roofless, but, from the vast thickness and strength of the walls, still in a good state of preservation. The border strengths were The border strengths were of three kinds-regular fortresses, large baronial castles, and the lesser kind of towers. On the east, the English owned the fortified town of Berwick, and at no great distance Newcastle-on-Tyne; and on the west, Carlisle. The chief Scottish border fortresses were the royal castles of Roxburgh, Jedburgh, and Lochmaben; and we might almost include Edinburgh Castle, for it is only 60 miles distant. Among the baronial castles on the English side were numbered Norham, Alnwick, Bamborough, Naworth, Brougham, Penrith, and Cockermouth. Among the Scottish fortlets of the baronial class may be mentioned Newark, Hermitage, and Caerlaverock. The smaller kind of towers on both sides of the frontier appear to have been exceedingly numerous, and it is their remains that form the more conspicuous memorials of old border strife. These buildings consist of a single square tower, usually of three BO'RDER-WARRANT, in the law of Scotland, floors; the lower vaulted, for the reception of is a warrant issued by the judge ordinary-that is, cattle; while the two upper, consisting of but one by the sheriff or county court judge, or by magissmall apartment each, with narrow slit-hole win- trates of royal burghs within the royalty, or by dows, comprised the accommodation for the family. justices of the peace-on the borders between ScotIt is conjectured, however, that retainers lived in land and England, on the petition of a creditor who thatched huts outside, which are now obliterated, desires to arrest the person or effects of a debtor and were brought into the tower, along with the residing on the English side, and to detain him cattle, only in the case of an anticipated attack. until he finds bail for his appearance in, and abiding These towers, known as bastel-houses or peels, once the result of, any action which may be brought for the residences of a warlike yeomanry, are thickly the debt within six months. The creditor must studded over the south of Scotland, more particularly swear to the truth of the debt, and before resorting along the vale of the Tweed; and by the lighting to imprisonment of the debtor, it is proper to of beacons on their summits, the whole country between the border and the Forth could be speedily summoned to arms. On the English side, there are similar towers, such as those of Thirlwall, Fenwick,

W. C.

examine him as to his domicile, or usual residence, and occupation. These warrants are in use in the counties of Dumfries, Roxburgh, and Berwick. They are more used in the country districts than

BORDURE-BORER.

in the burghs, though not frequently even in the whether the old smooth-bore iron guns can not only country districts. In Dumfriesshire and Berwick- be bored-up, but rifled at the same time. There shire, border-warrants are granted exclusively for are 15,000 of such guns belonging to the British arresting the persons of alleged debtors. In Rox-government, and it is suggested that they ought to burghshire-with the exception of the courts of the be improved in efficiency, instead of being cast aside justices of the peace in Kelso and Melrose districts, as useless in the event of the success of the Armwhich follow the practice of the two first-named strong and Whitworth guns. counties-the warrants are granted for the purpose of arresting both the debtor's person and goods. In the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, and in Wigtonshire, they are unknown.

ATTACHMENT; JURISDICTION,

BO'REAS, the Greek name of the north-east wind, blowing towards Hellas from the Thracian mountains, and personified in mythology as the son of Astræus and of Eos or Aurora, and the brother In English practice, the warrant to arrest an of Notus, Zephyrus, and Hesperus. B. was said to absconding debtor, which includes any foreigner | dwell in a cave of the Thracian Hæmus, to which who may be in England on business or pleasure, he carried Oreithyia, the daughter of the Athenian is very similar. See ARRESTMENT FOR FOUNDING king Erechtheus, who bore him Zetes and Calaïs-JURISDICTION; DEBTOR, ABSCONDING; FOREIGN employed as the symbols of swiftness-and Cleopatra, the wife of Phineus. According to Homeric fable, he begat, with the mares of Erichthonius, twelve horses of extraordinary fleetness. The rape of Oreithyia was represented on the ark of Cypselos, where B. instead of feet has the tails of serpents. He had a temple in Athens, because he destroyed the ships of the Persians under Xerxes; and at Megalopolis, a yearly festival was celebrated in his honour, because upon one occasion he helped the Megalopolitans against the Spartans.

BO'RDURE, or BORDER, in Heraldry. Coats of arms are frequently surrounded with a B., the object of which is generally to shew that the bearer is a cadet of the house whose arms he carries. The character of the B. often has reference to the profession of the bearer: thus a B. embattled, is granted to a soldier; and a B. ermine, to a lawyer.

BO'RECOLE. See KALE.

BORE is a tidal phenomenon at the estuaries of certain rivers. When a river expands gradually towards a very wide mouth, and is subject to high BORELLI, GIOVANNI ALFONSO, a distinguished tides, the spring flood-tide drives an immense volume of water from the sea into the river; the mathematician and astronomer, and the founder water accumulates in the estuary more rapidly of the iatro-mathematical school, born at Naples than it can flow up into the river; and thus there in 1608, was educated at Florence, and became prois gradually formed a kind of watery ridge stretch-fessor of mathematics at Pisa, and afterwards at ing across the estuary, and rushing up towards Messina. Having taken part in a revolt, he was the river with great violence. In some cases, this ridge, or B., is many feet in height, and contends against the descending stream with frightful noise. This phenomenon is observable in several British rivers, as the Severn, Trent, Wye, and Solway. The most celebrated bores, are those of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Indus: in the Hoogly branch of the Ganges, the B. travels 70 miles in 4 hours, and sometimes appears suddenly as a liquid wall 5 feet in height.

obliged to leave Messina, and spent the remainder of his life at Rome, where he enjoyed the patronage of Queen Christina of Sweden, and where he died He carefully observed the motions of the in 1679. satellites of Jupiter, then little known, and seems to have been the first to discover the parabolic paths He made many valuable observations of comets. on a malignant fever in Sicily, and wrote a treatise on the causes of such fevers. He wrote also an account of an eruption of Etna, and a number of works on subjects of applied mathematics, of which BORE is a name for the internal cavity of a cannon, mortar, howitzer, rifle, musket, fowling- the most celebrated is that De Motu Animalium piece, pistol, or other kind of firearm. It is in most (Rome, 1680-1681). In this work, he applies the cases cylindrical; but in the Lancaster gun the B. laws of mechanics to the motions of animals, regardis oval; in the Whitworth gun, it is hexagonal; ing the bones as levers, in which the power acts while in the Armstrong, and many other kinds between the weight and the fulerum, and endeaof gun, it is furrowed by spiral grooves. Tech-vouring to calculate the power of muscles from a nically, the B. of a gun often means simply the iameter of the cavity, as when we speak of a gun 'of 8-inch bore;' and in that case its meaning is equivalent to 'calibre.'

The BORING of a cannon is a process which may best be described in connection with CANNON FOUNDING. It is desirable to mention in the present place, however, that there is an operation called 'boring-up' conducted at Woolwich Arsenal, for enlarging the bore of a gun. It has been found in recent years that many of the old cannon are thicker and heavier than needful for the size of shot propelled, and that they could be fitted for the discharge of larger shot without danger. A change was begun in the armament of the British fleet in 1839 by substituting heavier broadsides; and as one part of the process, many of the old 24-pounders were 'bored up' to 32s; even some of the 18-pounders were found to be thick and strong enough to undergo this process. More than 2000 iron naval guns were thus treated at Woolwich preparatory to the change in 1839; and many others have since been similarly bored-up. At the present time, May 1860, important experiments are in progress at Woolwich, to determine

consideration of their fibrous structure, and the All more recent authors on the same subject have manner in which they are united to the tendons.

been much indebted to Borelli.

BORER, a name common to many insects of the Linnæan genus Ptinus, the tribe Ptiniores of Latreille, coleopterous (q. v.) insects of small size, the larvae of which-small, white, soft, worm-like creatures, with six minute feet-are furnished with strong cutting jaws (maxilla), by means of which they eat their way in old wood, and similar substances, boring little holes as round as if made with a fine drill. Every one is familiar with the appearance of these holes, and with the injury done by these insects to furniture, &c. The holes are filled up, as the insect works its way onward, with a fine powder, formed from the wood which it has eaten; and finally it constructs for itself a little silky cocoon, and having passed through the pupa state in the bottom of its hole, comes forth a winged insect-a small beetle, in the widest popular sense One of the most common British of that term. species is Anobium striatum, a dark-brown insect, The thorax, as not much above one line in length. in the whole tribe, is proportionately very large,

« PrécédentContinuer »