executed by Schadow in Berlin. B. died, after a short illness, at his estate of Kriblowitz, in Silesia, Sept. 12, 1819, aged almost 77 years. June 18, 1826, a statue of bronze was erected to him, in Berlin, 12 feet in height, modelled by Rauch, and cast by Le Quine and Reisinger. B. was not so eminent for military science as for ability in action. He himself often acknowledged this, when he was praising the merits of Gneisenau, to whose assistance he was greatly indebted. In battle, however, he had the eye of a falcon. His simplicity, good-nature and bravery endeared him to his soldiers, who loved him like a father. His addresses and proclamations are distinguished for their brevity, precision and simplicity, forming a striking contrast to the high-sounding French proclamations of the time. (See Bluecher's Lebensbeschreibung (Blücher's Life), by Varnhagen von Ense, Berlin, 1827.)

BLUE. (See Color.)

Blue, Prussian; a coloring matter, of a pure dark-blue color, a dull fracture, inodorous and insipid, insoluble in water, spirits of wine or ether; it is soluble only by the action of corrosive alkalies. The discovery of this color was accidentally made, in 1704, by Diesbach, a manufacturer of colors, who, with the intention of precipitating the coloring matter from cochineal, with which alum and vitriol of iron were dissolved, procured some alkali from the laboratory of Dippel. This alkali, which Dippel had been heating with some animal matter, produced a beautiful blue precipitate. Dippel, discovering that the alkali had acquired this power of forming a blue precipitate of iron on account of its mixture with animal oil, soon learned to prepare it in a more simple way, since all animal substances, and even all vegetables, which contain much azote, will give the same result. It is, however, necessary, that all the materials should be perfectly pure, since the purification would be too expensive. The addition of alum gives to this blue more body and a brighter color. This blue substance is a prussiate of iron (52 parts red oxyde of iron, and 48 of prussic acid), The alumine added amounts to from 20 to 80 per cent.; but the greater the quantity, the poorer is the quality of the blue.

BLUEBIRD (Sylvia sialis, Wils.; saxicola sialis, Bonaparte). This beautiful little bird is one of the earliest messengers of spring, and is occasionally seen as early as the month of February, in mild seasons. The middle of March is the ordi

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nary time of mating, when the male bluebird is observed to be extremely devoted to the female, and shows the ardor of his attachment by every attention in his pow-er, by the rapturous animation of his song, and the angry jealousy with which he repels the approaches of a rival. The nest of the former year is then repaired, and the female begins to lay her eggs, usually five, sometimes six, of a pale-blue color, Two or three broods are raised in a season, the youngest of which are taken care of by the male, while the mother is still attending to the nest. The principal food of this species is insects, especially large beetles, and other hard-wing or coleopterous bugs, to be found about dead or rotting trees: berries, persimmon, and the seeds of various plants, are also discovered in their stomachs. Large and numerous tape-worms infest their bowels, and they are also exceedingly annoyed by vermin externally. Wilson says, that, in this respect, they are more plagued than any other bird, except the woodcock. The spring and summer song of the bluebird is a soft and often-repeated warble: in the month of October, his song changes to a single plaintive note. About the middle of November, the bluebirds disappear, though, occasionally, one or two may be seen during the winter, in mild weather. The manners of this species are so gentle, and they render so much service by the destruction of insects, that they are always regarded with favor by the farmer. The male bluebird is six inches and three quarters long, with very full and broad wings. All the upper parts are of a rich sky-blue, with purple reflections: the bill and legs are black. The female is easily known by the duller cast of the plumage on the back, and by the red on the breast not descending so low as in the male, and being much fainter. The bluebird inhabits the whole of the U. States, also Mexico, Brazil, Guiana and the Bahama islands.-Wilson states that "nothing is more common, in Pennsylvania, than to see large flocks of these birds, in the spring and fall, passing at considerable heights in the air, from the south in the former, and from the north in the latter season. I have seen, in the month of October, about an hour after sunrise, 10 or 15 of them descend from a great height, and settle on the top of a tall, detached tree, appearing, from their silence and sedateness, to be strangers and fatigued. After a pause of a few minutes, they began to dress and arrange their plumage, and continued so employ

ed for 10 or 15 minutes more; then, on a few warning notes being given, perhaps by the leader of the party, the whole remounted to a vast height, steering in a direct line for the south-west."

BLUE RIDGE; one of the ranges of the Alleghany or Appalachian mountains, which extends from the river Hudson to Georgia, and intersects the state of Virginia from N. E. to S. W., dividing it into two parts, nearly equal. The great limestone valley extends along the N. W. side of this range. The most elevated summits of the Blue Ridge are the peaks of Otter, in Bedford county, Virginia.

BLUE-STOCKING; a pedantic female; one who sacrifices the characteristic excellences of her sex to learning. The origin of this name, in England, is thus given by Boswell, in his Life of Johnson: "About this time (1780), it was much the fashion for several ladies to have evening assemblies, where the fair sex might participate in conversation with literary and ingenious men, animated with a desire to please. These societies were denominated blue-stocking clubs, the origin of which name was as follows:-One of the most eminent members of these societies was Mr. Stillingfleet, who always wore blue stockings. Such was the excellence of his conversation, that his absence was felt as a great loss, and it used to be said, 'We can do nothing without the blue stockings; and thus, by degrees, the title was established."-In Germany, bluestocking (blau-strumpfe) signifies a traitor, a slanderer, an infamous lover, &c., and the term, in that country, is said to be derived from the blue stockings formerly worn by procurers.

BLUMAUER, Aloysius, a poet, and famous parodist, born at Steyr, in Austria, above the Ens, in 1755, studied in his native city, entered (1772) into the order of the Jesuits in Vienna, lived there privately, after the abolition of his order, till he was appointed censor, which place he resigned in 1793, and took the establishment of the bookseller Graeffer, in which he had been concerned since 1786. He died in 1798. By his Æneid travestied, he distinguished himself as a burlesque poet. It is a poetical farce, rich in burlesque wit and droll contrasts. These qualities are also to be found in several others of his numerous poems. Some of them are full of animation, and are written in a pure, manly style. At times, his wit is vulgar, his language incorrect and prosaic. A collection of his works appeared at Leipsic, 1801-3,8 vols.

BLUMENBACH, John Frederic, doctor. This profound naturalist is, at present, one of the first ornaments of the university at Göttingen, where he has lectured, for 50 years, with unabated industry, on natural history, physiology, osteology, comparative anatomy, pathology, and the history of medical literature, to very numerous audiences. He has written on almost all these sciences with acuteness, method and precision. His works bear the stamp of his peculiar genius, and. some of them have been several times published. His masterly, but, at present, somewhat antiquated Handbuch der Naturgeschichte (Compendium of Natural History) was published, in 1825, for the 11th time. Of his Handbuch der Physiologie (Compendium of Physiology) there is an English translation, the second edition of which (1818) is also remarkable for being the first book ever printed by mechanical power.-B. was born at Gotha, May 11, 1752; studied in Jena and Göttingen, where he received his degree of doctor of medicine, Sept. 19, 1775. In 1776, he was appointed director of the cabinet of natural curiosities belonging to the university, and professor extraordinary of medicine, and, in 1778, ordinary professor of the same. In 1783, he undertook a literary journey to Switzerland, and, at a later period, one to England, where the attentions of the celebrated sir Joseph Banks were particularly serviceable to him. He possesses an excellent collection of books and engravings illustrating natural history, and numerous spe cimens of natural curiosities. The collection of skulls is not, perhaps, equalled in the world. On this collection is founded his Collectio Craniorum divers. gent. illustr., with engravings, of which six numbers (Göttingen, 1790-1820) have appeared. Schnader called a newly-discovered species of plants after his name, Blumenbachia insignis. The 50th anniversary of his professorship in the university of Göttingen was celebrated Feb. 26, 1826.

Boa; the name of a genus of reptiles belonging to Cuvier's tribe of serpents proper; having the tympanic bone or pedicle of the lower jaw movable, which is itself almost always suspended to another bone analogous to the mastoid, attached to the skull by muscles and ligaments, which contribute to its mobility. The branches of this jaw are not united, and those of the upper jaw are attached to the intermaxillary bone only by ligaments, so that these animals can dilate

the mouth sufficiently to swallow bodies larger than themselves. Their palatic arches partake of this mobility. In the species of this tribe not possessed of venom, the branches of the upper and lower jaw, throughout their entire length, as well as the palate bones, are armed with pointed, recurved, solid and permanent teeth, forming four nearly equal rows above, and two below. The genus boa comprises all those serpents which, in addition to the preceding characters, have the scuta on the under part of the tail single; a hook on each side of the vent; the tail prehensile; the body compressed and largest in the middle, and with small scales, at least on the posterior part of the head. The species properly belonging to this genus are among the largest of the serpent tribe, some of them, when full grown, being 30 and even 40 feet long. Though destitute of fangs and venom, nature has endowed them with a degree of muscular power which renders them terrible. Happily, they are not common in situations much frequented by mankind, but are chiefly found in the vast marshy regions of Guiana, and other hot parts of the American continent. Although sufficiently active when fasting or hungry, they become very sluggish and inert after having gorged their prey, at which time they are most easily destroyed. In order to obtain their food, the bow of largest size attach themselves to the trunk or branches of a tree, in a situation likely to be visited by quadrupeds for the sake of pasture or water. There the serpent swings about in the air, as if a branch or pendent of the tree, until some luckless animal approaches; then, suddenly relinquishing its position, swift as lightning he seizes the victim, and coils his body spirally round its throat and chest, until, after a few ineffectual cries and struggles, the animal is suffocated, and expires. In producing this effect, the serpent does not merely wreathe itself around its prey, but places fold over fold, as if desirous of adding as much weight as possible to the muscular effort: these folds are then gradually tightened with enormous force, and speedily induce death. The animals thus destroyed by the larger boa are deer, dogs, and even bullocks. The prey is then prepared for being swallowed, which the creature accomplishes by pushing the limbs into the most convenient position, and then covering the surface with a glutinous saliva. The reptile commences the act of deglutition by taking the muzzle of the prey into its mouth, which is 13

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capable of vast extension; and, by a succession of wonderful muscular contractions, the rest of the body is gradually drawn in, with a steady and regular motion. As the mass advances in the gullet, the parts through which it has passed resume their former dimensions, though its immediate situation is always betrayed by external protuberance.-As already mentioned, the species of boa are peculiar to the hot parts of South America, though nothing is more common than the error of confounding the great serpents of India, Africa, &c., with the proper boa. According to the researches of Cuvier, all the box, at present well determined, are natives of the new continent. The great serpents of the old continent belong to the genus python (Daud.), and will be treated of under that title. It is nevertheless true, that Pliny has spoken of the huge serpents of India, and afterwards of large serpents of Italy, which were called boa, thus named from the circumstance of their being at first fed with cow's milk.-Among the most celebrated species is the boa constrictor (L.), distinguished by a large chain, formed alternately of large, blackish, irregular hexagonal spots, with pale, oval spots, notched at their two extremities, along the back. This is the largest species, and is usually confounded, by casual observers, with the python Tigris of the old world. The B. cenchris (L.), and the B. scytale, et musina (L.), attain to nearly an equal size with the constrictor (from 20 to 30 feet long), and are all natives of the torrid and marshy regions of America. The other species are of smaller size, and some do not much exceed that of the largest common snakes. We cannot reflect upon the natural history of these great reptiles, without being struck with their peculiar adaptation tc the situations in which they are commonly most abundant. In regions bordering on great rivers, which, like the Orinoco, &c., annually inundate vast tracts of country, these serpents live securely among the trees with which the soil is covered, and are capable of enduring very protracted hunger without much apparent suffering or diminution of vigor. Nox ious as such districts are to human life, they teem with a gigantic and luxuriant vegetation, and are the favorite haunts of numerous animals, preyed upon, and, to a certain degree, restricted in their increase, by the boa. As their prey come within their reach, they require no deadly apparatus of poison to produce their destruc tion, since nature has endowed them with

muscular strength surpassing that of almost every other creature, in proportion to their size. Once fairly involved in the crushing folds of the constrictor, the strength of the strongest man would not prove of the slightest avail; indeed, from the ease with which larger and more powerful creatures are put to death by these serpents, it is evident that any number of unarmed men would act very unwisely to provoke a combat with enemies endowed with powers of such dreadful energy.

oars.

BOADICEA; queen of the Iceni, in Britain, during the reign of Nero. Having been treated in the most ignominious manner by the Romans, she headed a general insurrection of the Britons, attacked the Roman settlements, reduced London to ashes, and put to the sword all strangers, to the number of 70,000. Suetonius, the Roman general, defeated her in a decisive battle, and B., rather than fall into the hands of her enemies, put an end to her own life by poison. BOAT; properly, a vessel propelled by In a more extensive sense, the word is applied to other small vessels, which differ in construction and name, according to the services in which they are employed. Thus they are light or strong, sharp or flat bottomed, open or decked, &c., according as they are intended for swiftness or burden, deep or shallow water, &c.-The barge is a long, light, narrow boat, employed in harbors, but unfit for sea. The long-boat is the largest boat belonging to a ship, generally furnished with sails, and is employed for cruising short distances, bringing heavy articles on board, &c.—The launch is more flat-bottomed than the long-boat, which it has generally superseded. The pinnace_resembles a barge, but is smaller.-The cutters of a ship are broader and deeper than the barge or pinnace, and are employed in carrying light articles, passengers, &c. on board.-Yawls are used for similar purposes, and are smaller than cutters. A gig is a long, narrow boat, used for expedition, and rowed with six or eight oars.-The jolly-boat is smaller than a yawl, and is used for going on shore.---A merchant-ship seldom has more than two boats, a long-boat and a yawl.A wherry is a light, sharp boat, used in a river or harbor, for transporting passengers.-A punt is a flat-bottomed boat, chiefly used for one person to go on shore from small vessels.-A skiff is a small boat, like a yawl, used for passing rivers. -A Moses is a flat-bottomed boat, used in the West Indies for carrying hogsheads

from the shore to ships in the roads.-A felucca is a large passage-boat, used in the Mediterranean, with from 10 to 16 banks of oars. Scow is an American word, signifying a large, flat-bottomed, heavy boat, about 30 feet long, and 12 wide. In some parts of the U. States, it is called a gondola. (See Canoe, Galley, &c.)

BOCCACCIO, Giovanni, whose name alone, as Mazzuchelli justly says, is equivalent to a thousand encomiums, was the son of a Florentine merchant. His family came, originally, from Certaldo, a village in Tuscany; whence he gives himself the appellation da Certaldo. He was the offspring of an illicit connexion which his father formed, while on a visit of business, at Paris, and was born in that city, 1313. He early removed to Florence, where he began his studies, and, even in childhood, discovered a decided fondness for poetry. In his 10th year, his father put him under the care of a merchant, to be educated in his business. With him he returned to Paris, and remained there six years, without acquiring any fondness for his profession. His residence of eight years at Naples was equally ineffectual to this purpose. Instead of attending to trade, he formed the closest intimacy with several learned men of Florence and Naples, who had been drawn thither by that patron of the arts, king Robert. There is nothing to prove that he shared in the favor of the prince; but he enjoyed the particular affection of a natural daughter of his, for whom he composed many pieces in prose and verse, and to whom he often pays homage under the name of Fiammetta. Placed in fortunate circumstances, with a lively and cheerful disposition, of a soft and pleasing address, the favored lover of a king's daughter, he regarded with more aversion than ever the station for which he had been intended. The fondness of the princess for poetry; his own intimacy with scientific and literary men; the tomb of Virgil, near Naples, which he used to visit in his walks; the presence of Petrarch, who was received with the highest distinction at the court of Naples, and who went from that city to Rome, to be crowned with the poetic laurel; the intimacy which had arisen between the two poets;-all operated powerfully on B., to strengthen and fix his natural inclination for poetry and literature. After living two years at Florence with his father, he returned to Naples, where he was very graciously received by the queen Joanna. It is thought that

it was no less to gratify the young queen, than his Fiammetta, that he wrote his Decameron, which has raised him to the rank of the first Italian prose-writer. On the death of his father, becoming master of his own inclinations, he settled at Florence, where his first work was a description of the plague, which forms the opening of the Decameron. He afterwards wrote the life of Dante. He was chosen to inform Petrarch, at Padua, of his recall from exile, and the restoration of the property belonging to his father, who had died during his absence. The friendship of these two men of genius continued for life. When B., some years after, had exhausted his fortune in the purchase of costly books, and in expensive pleasures, he found in Petrarch the most generous assistance: the wise counsels of his friend were now as beneficial to his morals as they had been to his writings; in fact, to him he was indebted for the change which took place in his character. A dying Carthusian had persuaded him to renounce all the pleasures of the world: Petrarch softened his determination, and brought him back to that proper medium which marks the truly wise man. New troubles in Florence induced him to retire to Certaldo, where he owned a small estate. There he prosecuted his labors in tranquillity. He now composed several historical works in Latin. Among these is the first modern work which contains, in a collected form, the mythological notices, which are scattered in the writings of the ancients. He was well versed in Greek, and had, at his own expense, brought Leontius Pilatus of Thessalonica from Venice to Florence, and maintained him three years at his house, in order to learn Greek of him, and to have his assistance in explaining the poems of Homer, and translating them into Latin. He was the first who procured copies of the Iliad and Odyssey from Greece, at his own expense, and spared neither cost nor trouble to obtain good Greek and Latin manuscripts. At the same time, he used all his influence to excite his contemporaries to learn the Greek language, and substitute the study of the ancients for that of the scholastic philosophy. The reputation which he had gained twice procured for him important missions to pope Urban V. Having fulfilled these, he returned to Certaldo, and resumed his studies. Here he was attacked by a severe and lingering disorder, which finally left him in a state of debility as

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painful as the disease itself. Upon his recovery, he was charged with a difficult, but very flattering trust. Dante had always been the object of his highest admiration. The Florentines, who had once persecuted and banished that illustrious poet, but now did justice to his merits, had resolved, by way of atonement to his memory, to establish a public professorship for the illustration of his poems, which were every day becoming more obscure, as the distance of the time when they were written became greater. This new professorship was conferred upon B., who devoted himself to it with so much ardor, that his health could never be firmly reestablished. This received a further shock from the death of his instructer and dearest friend Petrarch. He survived him not much more than a year, and died at Certaldo, Dec. 21, 1375. On his tomb was placed this inscription, composed by himself:

Hac sub mole jacent cineres ac ossa Joannis,
Mens sedet ante Deum meritis ornata laborum,
Mortalis vitæ. Genitor Bocchaccius illi,
Patria Certaldum, studium fuit alma poesis.

B. appears, in all his works, to be a poet of the richest invention, the most lively imagination, and the tenderest and warmest feeling. In prose, he is a perfect master of composition. His Decameron, which contains a collection of a hundred tales, partly borrowed from the Provençal poets, is the work on which his fame chiefly rests. In this he painted, as it were, on one vast canvas, men of all ranks, characters and ages, and incidents of every kind, the most extravagant and comical, as well as the most touching and tragic; and improved the Italian language to a degree of excellence never before attained. Of his other works, we will mention only the following: La Teseide, the first attempt towards an Italian epic, and written in ottava rima, of which B. is considered the inventor; Amorosa Visione, a long poem in terza rima (the initial letters of which form two sonnets and a canzonet, in praise of the princess Maria, his mistress, whom he here ventures to address by her proper name); Il Filostrato, a romantic poem in ottava rima; Nimfule Fiesolano, in the same measure; Rime; (most of his sonnets, canzonets, and other amatory poems, he consigned to the flames, after reading the Italian poems of Petrarch; those which remain appear to have been preserved against his will); Il Filocopo, ovvero amorosa Fatica, a hunting romance; L'amorosa Fiammetta, a charming tale; L'Urbano (thought