posed, after having descended from the highlands, to flow through the flat surface of the district of Bijnee, and to join the Brahmapootra several miles below its entry into Bengal. The rapidity of all the rivers of Bootan is far too great to allow either navigation or irrigation. The latter circumstance however is not of great importance, as the level country along their banks is of very small extent, most of the cultivated ground being situated on the sides of the hills, from which numerous rills descend. The slopes are cut into stages, and the rice planted on them is watered by the descending streams, which are made to overflow the beds successively. The natives show much industry in the cultivation of their fields, which are always neatly dressed. Besides rice, they cultivate wheat, barley, and a species of the polygonum of Linnæus, which produces a triangular seed, nearly the size of barley, and is the common food of the people in many places. The level tracts along the Tebin-tchien yield two crops in the year; the first, of wheat and barley, is cut in June, and the rice, which is planted immediately after, enjoys the benefit of the rains. Horticulture is less attended to, though the country is fitted for the production of every fruit and vegetable common without the tropics, and in some situations will bring to perfection many tropical fruits. The most common fruits are apples, pears, peaches, apricots, mulberries, oranges, pomegranates, and walnuts. The apples are coarse, harsh, and ill-tasted, but the peaches and apricots are excellent. The culture of vegetables is also neglected, except that of turnips, which are equal to those of the northern countries of Europe. They also grow shallots, cucumbers, gourds, and melons. The sugar-cane is cultivated at Andipore. In the rocky soil, near the mountains covered with snow, a species of rhubarb plant (rheum undulatum) is found; and in some other parts a kind of cinnamon tree, the leaves of which are much used in cookery in Bengal, and known by the name of teezpant. Paper is made from the bark of a tree. Of domestic animals only horses, cattle, and hogs are kept. The horses are nearly all of them of a peculiar species, indigenous in Bootan, and found in none of the neighbouring countries. They are called tangun, vulgarly tannian, from Tangustân, the general appellation of the mountains of Bootan, but they are chiefly bred in the valley of the Pa-tchien, the tributary of the Tehin-tchien. They are usually thirteen hands high, and remarkable for their just proportions, uniting in an eminent degree both strength and beauty. They are short-bodied, clean-limbed, and though deep in the chest, yet extremely active. They are commonly of a piebald colour, with various shades of black, bay, and sorrel upon a ground of the purest white. Those of one colour are rare, and not so valuable in the opinion of the Booteeas, though much more esteemed by the English in Bengal, to which country a great number is annually exported. The chowry-tailed cattle, or yak (Bos grunniens) [ASIA, p. 482], pastures in summer among the snow-topped mountains which constitute the boundary between Bootan and Tibet, and in the winter it descends into the deep glens farther to the south. The natives of Bootan, called by the Hindus Bootecas, or Botiyas, belong to a very extensive nation, which occupies the higher regions of the Himalaya range westward to the valley of Cashmere: in Bootan alone they are in possession of the whole mountain-tract. The structure of their body and their features prove that they belong to the same race which is spread over the south of Eastern Asia, and comprehends the Birmans as well as the Chinese. The Booteeas are Buddhists; but in their religious ceremonies they differ widely from other nations. Their temples are small squares, in which the image of Buddha is preserved. They are never opened, and the whole divine service of the people consists in processions made round the temple, accompanied with the mystic words, 'Om man ni pad me hum! They uncover their heads when they pass a temple, and if travelling on horseback, dismount and walk by. Near the temples are many tall flagstaffs, which have narrow banners of white cloth, reaching nearly from top to bottom, and inscribed with the same mystic words. Besides this there are long walls, commonly about twelve or fifteen feet in length, six feet high, and two thick, with a central part distinguished by being thicker and higher than the sides. On both faces near the top are inserted large tablets, with the same mystic words cut in relief. The import of these words, according to the explanation of Schmidt, is 'The jewel of the Buddistic fullness is truly revealed in the Padma (Lotus) flower." They consider the Dherma Raja as an incarnation of the Divinity, and he is their ecclesiastical chief as well as their sovereign. Being entirely absorbed in the contemplation of the divinity, he takes no part in the internal or external affairs of the country, which are entirely left to the management of the Daeb Raja, except that the Dherma Raja appoints one member of the state council. This council consists of eight persons, without the assistance of whom the Daeb Raja can do nothing of consequence. This sovereign has to receive the public money, and to distribute it among the officers of government, or to employ it for the support of religion, all which is done according to rules established by custom. The number of priests, called gylongs, is considerable, and amounts to upwards of 5000. Their principal duty consists in the study of the religious books, which seem to be numerous, and full of metaphysical distinctions. They are excluded from all commerce with the other sex, and are not permitted to cultivate the ground; but they may enter into trade, and accept public offices. The Booteeas do not kill any animal, but they eat the meat of those which have been killed by others, or have died. New-born children are washed the first day with warm water, and the following day they are immersed in a cold river. No religious ceremonies are observed on entering into matrimony. Rich people take as many wives as they like, and among the poor four or five brothers have only one; the children in such cases are considered as belonging to the eldest brother. Thus we find in Bootan both polygamy and polyandry. Women abandon themselves to a depraved life up to their twenty-fifth or thirtieth year, after which they marry. The dead are burned, and the gylongs officiate on such occasions; the ashes are thrown into the river. On the house of the burned person flagstaffs are erected, in order to accelerate the regeneration of the owner. Wild animals are so extremely rare in the mountainous districts of Bootan, that Turner does not notice any, except a kind of monkey, the hunnoowunt of India, the largest in Bootan has some commerce with all the neighbouring these countries, and the gentlest of the monkey tribe. They countries: the most important is that with Benga, and Tihave black faces, surrounded by a streak of white hair, and bet. The commodities for Bengal consist of Tangun horses, very long slender tails. They are only found in the mild linen-cloth, moschus, chowries, oranges, walnuts, and climate near Panukka, and are held sacred by the Boo-mungit (a kind of red colour): they are brought to Rungteeas as well as by the Hindus. Bees are common, and managed with great care. Among the troublesome animals, leeches and a kind of pestiferous fly are noticed. The mineral riches are little known, and still less used. Of metals only iron and copper are found, and only the former worked. pore, where they are exchanged for woollen cloth, coarse cottons, indigo, sandal wood, assafoetida, and spices, all which articles are consumed in the country or sent to Tibet. The same commodities are sent to Nepaul and Asam, with the addition of rock-salt. Part of the commodities brought from Bengal are sent to H'Lussa, in Tibet, with rice, wheat, and flour. Tea, gold, silver, and embroideries are received in exchange. The Booteeas import from Cutch Behar cattle, hogs, dried fish, betel, tobacco, and coarse cottons. Commerce in Bootan is monopolized by the government, the governors of the provinces, and their officers. (Turner's Embassy to the Teshoo Luma, and Kishen Kant Bose, in There are no towns in Bootan, and even large villages are rare, consisting generally of not more than ten or twelve houses. Only the palaces of the lamas, of the Daeb rajah, and the governors of the provinces, and the numerous fortresses, deserve notice: a drawing and description of the palace of Tassisudon are given in Turner's Embassy to the Court of Teshoo Lama, p. 90, &c. The fortresses are al-Asiatic Researches, xv.) ways built on very advantageous sites, generally at the confluence of two rivers. BOO'TES (from the Greek Borç, bos, an ox'), one of the old constellations. Its name signifies the herdsman, but it is as frequently called Arctophylax by the antients, is the version of Cicero. Both Aratus and Hyginus place ARCTURUS in or under the girdle; but it is usual to draw it between the legs of the figure, Manilius also uses both names, The constellation is connected mytho-mendation to Mr. Betterton, who with great candour and logically with the fables of Areas, Icarus, Lycaon, and others. The Arabic translators of Ptolemy rendered Boótes by bellower or vociferator. According to the old figures attached to Hyginus, he is represented as a man with a spear in the right hand (viewed from the back-BAYER) and a sickle in the left. The modern figures represent a man with a club in the right hand (viewed in front), and in the left the string which holds the two dogs (Canes Venatici). It would seem to be probable that the Great Bear was originally either an agricultural animal or instrument (an ox, an ass, or a waggon), and Boótes the driver. The stars in Boótes are as follows: No, in theatre, who chanced to be in London, and with him he went to Ireland in June, 1698. His first appearance in Dublin was in the part of Oronoko, and his success, deeided from the commencement, continued for two years increasing daily, when he determined to return to England, and having by letter reconciled himself a second time with his family, he obtained from Lord Fitzharding a recomkindness engaged and assisted him to the extent of his power. In 1701 Mr. Booth made his first bow in the Theatre Royal, Drury-Lane, in the character of Maximus, in Lord Rochester's 'Valentinian.' His reception was enthusiastic, and he shortly established himself in public favour, as second only to his great friend and instructor Betterton. In 1712, on the production of Mr. Addison's Cato,' Mr. Booth performed the principal character, and was complimented by the Tories, who presented him with fifty guineas, collected in the boxes during the performance, as a slight acknowledgment of his honest opposition to a perpetual dictator, and his dying so bravely in the cause of liberty. The managers of the theatre also presented him with an equal sum, in consideration of the great success his talents had secured to the play; and shortly afterwards Queen Anne, at the request of Lord Bolingbroke, granted a special license recalling all former ones, and nominating Mr. Booth joint manager with Wilks, Cibber, and Dogget. In 1727 Booth was attacked by a violent fever, which lasted forty-six successive days without intermission, and 4217083 from the effects of which he never perfectly recovered. In 4317105 1729 he was prevailed on to play, for seven nights only, in 44 1714 5 'The Double Falsehood,' and they were his last performances. 45 1715 5 After four years' distressing alienation of mind, he 46 1719 6 expired, May 10, 1733, of a complication of disorders, in the fifty-third year of his age. Mr. Booth was twice married: first in 1704, to a daughter of Sir William Barkham of Norfolk, Bart., who died in 1710 without issue; and, secondly, in 1719, to Miss Hester Santlow, or Saintlow, a celebrated beautiful and wealthy actress, who survived him, but also without issue. His will, a copy of which is printed in the London Magazine for 1733, bears strong testimony of his regard for her, and assigns his reasons for bequeathing to her the whole of his fortune, which he acknowledges he received from her on the day of their marriage, but which he had diminished at least one-third. 15556 21 16254 2 15576 f 22 156% 6 23 1639 15694 g 24 6 c 15774 25 1578 54 26 1643 4 b 47 7 48 1730 5 In the preceding, we have availed ourselves of the edition of Flamsteed's Catalogue, just printed by the Admiralty, under the superintendence of Mr. Baily. We have entirely followed his magnitudes so far as they go; and the query attached to a letter indicates that it is the letter which has been commonly used, but which has not been admitted by Mr. Baily in his revision of the nomenclature and restoration of Bayer. We shall adopt the same plan in future. The numbers are Flamsteed's: those in () are Piazzi's: those in [ ] Bradley's. Booth's masterpiece as an actor is said by Cibber to have been Othello, but his favourite part was the far less important one of the Ghost in Hamlet,' a performance, says Macklin, which has never been imitated successfully. His tone, manner, and gait were so solemn and unearthly, that the audience appeared to be under the impression that a positive spectre stood before them. The soles of his shoes were covered with felt so as to make no noise upon the stage, which he glided more than walked over, thus completing the illusion. Victor, speaking of his person, says he was of a middle stature, five feet eight, his form rather inclining to the athletic, though nothing clumsy or heavy, his air and deportment naturally graceful, with a marking eye, and a manly sweetness in his countenance. His voice was completely harmonious, from the softness of the flute to the extent of the trumpet: his attitudes were all picturesque he was noble in his designs, and happy in his execution.' He was an amiable, good-hearted man, a lively companion, and diffident of his own abilities, by which means, says his biographer, he acquired the love and esteem of every one. So much was he in favour with the rich and noble of his day, that though he had no equipage of his own, there was not a nobleman in the kingdom, says Chetwood, who had so many sets of horses at his command. The chariot-and-six of some one or another was sure to be waiting for him every night to take him, after the play, to Windsor, where the court was then kept, and to bring him back the following day in time for the theatre. BOOTH, BARTON. This eminent actor was descended from an antient and honourable family, being the third son of John Booth, Esq., a near relation of Henry Booth, Earl of Warrington, in Lancashire. He was born in 1681, and educated at Westminster by the famous Dr. Busby. Becoming at a very early age remarkable for the grace of his action and the sweetness of his voice, he was selected to perform the character of Pamphilus in the Andria' of Terence, at one of the customary school-exhibitions. The great applause he met with on this occasion was, by his own confession, the first spur to his theatrical ambition; and on being removed to Cambridge at the age of seventeen, to the great annoyance of his parents, who had intended him for the church, he ran away from Trinity College, and joined a company of strolling players. The misdeeds of one of the actors, while at Bury in Suffolk, caused the dispersion of the company, and young Booth returned BOOTON, an island of the eastern seas, lying off the to London in great distress. He was speedily forgiven, and S.E. extremity of the island of Celebes. The 5th parallel S. kindly received by his family; but his stage-fever had by no and the 123rd meridian E. intersect one another about the means abated, and in one of its fiercest paroxysms he abso- middle of the island. Booton is about 85 m. long from N. to lutely engaged with a Mrs. Mins to perform at Bartholo- S., and its average breadth is about 20 m. it is separated mew Fair, where he achieved such renown, that Betterton from the island of Pangansane, or Passangane, by a narrow heard of him, and was prevented engaging him for Drury-strait, the water in which is deep enough to allow the passage Lane only by the fear of offending the noble family to of large vessels: this passage is called the Strait of Booton, which he was related. Shortly afterwards Booth formed an The island is mountainous and woody, but is well culti acquaintance with Ashbury, the manager of the Dublin vated in parts, yielding abundant crops of rice, maize, yams, BOOTHIA. [N. WEST PASSAGE.] and the usual variety of tropical fruits. Fowls and goats are reared for food, and buffaloes are pretty numerous. On the east side of Booton is a deep bay, called by the Dutch Dwaal, or Mistake Bay. There is danger in calm weather of ships being drawn by the set of the currents into this bay, in which case they can only get out again at the coming in of the west monsoon. When Mr. De Clerk was on his voyage to assume the government of Banda, he was detained during a whole year in this inlet. The inhabitants profess the Mohammedan faith; those who reside on the sea-coast speak the Malayan language. The island is an independent government under its own king, who rules likewise over the neighbouring small island. The Dutch East India Company formerly maintained a settlement on the island, to which they every year sent an officer to destroy the clove trees. This was done under a treaty with the king of Booton, to whom the company made an annual payment of 360 guilders (about 30%.) as an equivalent for the privilege, and for the assistance which he bound himself to give them in destroying the trees. The Dutch officer thus employed received the appropriate title of the extirpator. (Stavorinus's Voyages; Forrest's Voyage to New Guinea.) BOPAUL, or BHOPAL, a small independent principality in Central India, lying between 22° 33′ and 23° 45′ N. lat. and 76° 30' and 78° 83′ E. long.; its extreme length from E. to W. is 120, and its extreme breadth from N. to S. 60 m.; its area is computed at about 5000 sq. m. This principality is bounded on the N. and W. by the dominions of the Mahratta Chief Dowlut Rao Scindia, and on the S. and E. by the ceded districts on the Nerbudda, in the possession of the British East India Company; the river Nerbudda | forms a natural boundary through the whole extent of the S. frontier. Bopaul is one of the native states of India under British protection; but the Company's government has not formed any subsidiary treaty with the Nabob. of the eighteenth century, by Dost Mohammed, an Afghan adventurer in the service of Aurungzebe, by whom the territory was assigned to him. The government remained in the family of the founder for nearly a century, and was then usurped by Vizier Mohammed. This prince was attacked in 1812 by the combined forces of Scindia and the Rajah of Nagpore, against whom he made a successful defence, but was reduced to such distress as repeatedly to solicit aid from the British government. This was long withheld from the dread of offending Scindia, notwithstanding the claims which the Nabob had upon our gratitude for services rendered on a former occasion when he had sold all his jewels, that he might be able to maintain troops in aid of our exertions.' In 1816 the power of the Pindarries had grown to such a height as threatened destruction to Bopaul, and the principality was then taken under British protection. At the close of the war with the Mahrattas in 1818 permission was given to some of the chiefs of Pindarries to reside in Bopaul, and pensions were assigned them. by the British government, the payment of which was made to depend upon the peaceable conduct of the chiefs. Since that time the principality has enjoyed political repose, and the government being administered with a due regard to the interests of the people by making a settlement of the revenue upon equitable principles, the country is understood to be in a flourishing condition. (Mill's Hist. Brit. Ind."; Origin of the Pindarries; Rennell's Memoir, &c.; Rep. Com. H. C. on India, 1832, general appendix.) BORA, CATHERINE. (LUTHER.] BORACIC ACID, formerly called Homberg's sedative salt and sedative salt of borax, is a compound of the elementary body of boron and oxygen. It exists not only as above mentioned, but also in large quantity in combination with soda in the East Indies, forming borax or the biborate of soda. From this salt, which is mentioned under the head of salts of boracic acid, termed borates, it is procured by dissolving four parts of it in sixteen parts of boiling water, and adding one part of concentrated sulphuric acid to the filtered solution. Owing to the superior affinity of the sulphuric acid for the soda, sulphate of soda is formed, and the boracic acid separated crystallizes as the solution cools: it is to be allowed to drain, to be redissolved in boiling water, and again crystallized to separate the sulphuric acid which adheres to it. In order to purify it entirely from this acid, Berzelius recommends that it should be fused in a platinum crucible, and again dissolved in boiling water and crystal A hilly tract, forming part of the Vindhya mountains, passes through the centre of Bopaul from E. to W. The soil is generally fertile, especially in the valleys, where it consists either of a loose, rich, black loam, or of a more compact ferruginous mould. The principal vegetable products are wheat, maize, peas, and some other grains (gram, jowary, &c.) peculiar to Central India. Rice is not largely cultivated, but sugar, tobacco, cotton and ginger are raised in quantities beyond the wants of the inhabitants, and are exchanged for salt and manufactured goods. Bopaul is well watered, having, besides the Nerbudda, numerous smaller streams, of which the Betwah is the most consider-lized. able. This river rises on the N. slope of the Vindhya mountains, near the S. frontier of Bopaul, and flows N. across the principality, passing within 16 m. to the E. of the town of Bopaul. It then flows to the N.E., through the N.E. quarter of the province of Malwa, passes the town of Ereech, in Allahabad, and falls into the Jumna below Kalpee, having completed a course of about 340 m.; the Betwah is not navigable at any season. On the S.W. side of the town of Bopaul is a large tank, 44 m. long and 14 m. broad, formed by an embankment at the confluence of several streams. The river Bess issues from this tank and flows to the N.E. for 32 m., when it falls into the Betwah, 1 m. N. of the town of Bilsa in Scindia's dominions. On the E. of the town of Bopaul is a smaller tank about 2 m. long from N. to S. The town of Bopaul, which is the residence of the Nabob, is in 23° 17' N. lat. and 77° 27′ E. long. It is surrounded by a stone wall, and on the S.W. side has a fort built on a rock, but it is in a dilapidated condition, and indeed the whole town exhibits the appearance of decay. In 1820 the principality contained 4130 villages, of which 714 were uninhabited. The only towns of note besides the capital are Ashta and Islamnagur. Ashta is near the western frontier, and 40 miles S.W. from Bopaul. Islamnagur is a fortified town, 5 m. N. from Bopaul, and was considered impregnable. Through the treachery of the officer to whom it was intrusted it had been delivered up to Scindia, but the operations of war having given the British possession of some territory desirable to Scindia, he was induced to take the same in exchange for Islamnagur, which was, in the year 1818, made over as a gift to the Nabob of Bopaul. Islamnagur stands at the confluence of three streams, forming a natural defence on three sides, and on the fourth side the fort is protected by a morass. The principality of Bopaul was founded, at the beginning Boracic acid has the form of small scaly brilliant colourless crystals, which have a greasy feel. This acid is inodorous; its taste is not strong, and scarcely at all acid. It reddens litmus paper but slightly, and turns turmeric paper brown, as the alkalis do. Water at 60° dissolves about 1-26th of its weight of this acid, and boiling water nearly one-third. It contains about forty-four per cent. of water of crystallization, which is entirely expelled when it is gradually heated to redness in a platinum crucible. If the crystals are suddenly heated, a portion of the acid is carried off by the vapour of the expelled water. When fused boracic acid cools and becomes solid, it splits, and during this operation it is luminous in the dark; the light is probably electric. Boracic acid in crystals has a specific gravity of 1.48; when fused it is 1.83. It is soluble in alcohol, and the solution burns with a green flame. Although it acts weakly as an acid upon litmus paper, it decomposes the alkaline carbonates with effervescence, and at a red heat it expels most of the volatile acids from their bases. Boracic acid is composed, according to Berzelius. Thomson. 3 equivalents oxygen 24.03 2 equivalents oxygen 16 do. boron 10.91 1 do. boron 1 Equivalent 34.94 8 24' Boracic acid is sometimes used in chemical investigations, and was formerly employed in medicine. Borates are the salts which contain boracic acid: of these the only important one is Borax, a compound of boracic acid and soda, the correct appellation of which is biborate of soda. This salt is imported from the East Indies under the name of tincal or rough borax. It is supposed to be the substance called by Pliny chrysocolla. Geber in the seventh century mentions borax: its nature was pointed out by Geoffroy in 1732 and Baron in 1748. It is said to be brought from Persia, Ceylon, and also from Tibet, from a lake entirely supplied by springs, fifteen days' journey from Teesho Lumbo the capital. Tincal as imported is mixed with a fatty matter, which may be separated by acids. The crystals of tincal are bluish or greenish white, and are sometimes nearly transparent, but more commonly opake. They are soft and brittle. The primary form is an oblique rhombic prism. Tincal is purified by solution in water and crystallization, and is then sold as borax. Borax has rather an alkaline and sweetish tase, acts like alkalis upon turmeric paper, and is soluble in twelve parts of cold and two of boiling water. It effloresces slowly by exposure to the air, and when two pieces are rubbed together in the dark they become luminous. When moderately heated, borax swells and loses about four-tenths of its weight, and assumes the form of a light porous friable mass, and is called calcined borar. When very strongly heated, it melts into a transparent glass. It is composed of, according to Borax is also prepared, both in England and France, from soda and the boracic acid imported from Tuscany. This salt is a little employed in medicine, but is used extensively both in chemical investigations and in the arts as a flux. The primary form of common borax is an oblique rhombic prism, variously modified; but it has been found by Mr. Payen that if a saturated solution of borax at 174° be slowly cooled, it deposits crystals when the temperature is above 103°, which are in the form of the regular octohedron. These crystals contain only half as much water as those just described. BORAGI'NEÆ, a natural order of regular-flowered monopetalous dicotyledons, which are readily distinguished from all others by having their ovary deeply divided into four lobes, from the middle of which arises a single style. They are moreover characterised by their flowers being arranged in a gyrate manner before they expand. The common borage is often taken as the type of this order, and in fact represents not only its peculiarities of structure, but sensible properties; for all the known species agree in having an insipid juice, and their surface covered over with stiff white hairs, which communicate a peculiar asperity to the skin, whence these plants were formerly called asperifolia, or rough-leaved. Some few of the species, with perennial woody roots, yield from those parts a purplish colouring matter, used by dyers under the name of alkanet. Anchusa tinctoria, Lithospermum tinctorium, and some kinds of Onosma, are the best known for this quality. BORA'SSUS, a kind of palm-tree, called Tala in Sanscrit and Palmyra by the English, in imitation of the Portuguese, who name it Palmeira brava. It is defined by Roxburgh as having dioecious hexandrous flowers; the calyx and corolla in the males consisting each of three distinct pieces, and in the females of from eight to twelve in a confused state; and the ovary of three cells, changing to a three-seeded drupe. There is but one species according to writers on Indian botany; but it is not certain that more than one distinct palm is not confounded under the common name of Palmyra. That which is recognized is called both on the continent and in the islands, where it is esteemed Borassus flabelliformis. This plant grows all over India of the greatest use on account of the vinous sap and the sugar which are extracted from it. Its trunk is from twentyfive to forty feet high when full grown, and is perceptibly thicker at the base than at the summit. The leaves are about the same length, which are spiny at their edges; each fan-shaped, about four feet long, and placed upon stalks of leaf is divided into from seventy or eighty rays, which are ragged at the end, and the largest of which are placed in the centre. The fruit is about as big as a child's head, three-cornered, with the angles rounded off, and a little furrowed. It consists of a thick, fibrous, rather succulent, yellowish brown rind, containing three seeds the size of a goose-egg. When young the shell of the seed is so soft that it may be readily pierced by the finger, and the pulpy 1, a corolla; 2. the same cut open; 3, the tube of the same; 4, the base of matter which it then contains is cool and sweet and rethe same with the ovary and its four lobes; 5, an anther; 6, calyx; 7, a sec tion of the calyx, showing the four-lobed fruit; 8, a ripe calyx; 9, an achenium, freshing; but when ripe all this changes to a hard bluish albumen which is insipid and uneatable. The outer wood of the stem when old becomes very hard and brown, and although scarcely to be cut transversely, nevertheless divides freely in a longitudinal direction: it is capable of taking a fine polish, and is frequently made use of for bows: the young wood in the centre is white, soft, and worthless. This magnificent palm,' says Sir William Jones, 'is justly considered the king of its order, which the Hindus call trína druma, or grass-trees. Van Rheede mentions the bluish, gelatinous, pellucid substance of the young seeds, which in the hot season is cooling and rather agreeable to the taste; but the liquor extracted from the tree is the most seducing and pernicious of intoxicating juices. When just drawn it is as pleasant as Pouhon water fresh from the spring, and almost equal to the best mild champagne. From this liquor, according to Rheede, sugar is extracted; and it would be happy for these provinces if it were always applied to so innocent a purpose,' The mode of obtaining the sap of this palm is stated by Rumf to be by crushing the young inflorescence, and amputating the upper half; the lower is then tied to a leafstalk, and has a vessel, usually of bamboo, attached to its end. The vessel gradually fills with sap, and is removed every morning; when replaced, a fresh slice is cut from the wounded end of the inflorescence, an operation which is repeated daily until the whole of the raceme is sliced away. In procuring the sugar exactly the same process is followed, but the inside of the receiver is powdered with lime, which prevents fermentation taking place the juice is afterwards boiled down and finally dried by exposure to smoke in little baskets. BORAX, a compound of boracic acid and soda. It is quite insoluble in alcohol. It is precipitated from its solutions by all mineral acids and alkalies, and most alkaline and metallic salts. These are therefore incompatible with it in prescriptions Dr. A. T. Thomson states, that when biborate of soda and honey are mixed in equal portions, a chemical union takes place, by which a deliquescent salt is formed. This likewise happens when the biborate is added to a solution or mixture of honey and water. The taste of borax is sweetish, slightly alkaline, and refrigerant. In Britain borax is chiefly employed as a local application to aphthous sores, particularly of the mouths of children, and is applied either in powder, dissolved in water, or mixed with sugar or honey. If the opinion entertained by Dr. Thomson be correct, that it is the new salt resulting from the union with honey which is the useful agent in these cases, and not the borax simply, the last method is the only proper one: it is also the most agreeable, and therefore to be preferred, especially when the honey of roses (mel rosarum) is employed to form the compound. The compound of borax with honey of roses, added to a proper quantity of warm water, forms, when cold, a very efficacious gargle in many cases of ulcerated sore-throat. But the employment of borax is much too limited in Britain. It possesses an influence over the uterus similar to that of ergot of rye, which renders it as useful in protracted parturition, while it is much safer both for mother and child. (Hufeland's Journal, December, 1823, p. 114; and November, 1824, p. 123.) It is also serviceable as a refrigerant in slight febrile affections. But its external employment is more worthy of notice; in several cutaneous diseases it forms a lotion of great efficacy. A weak solution of it in rose-water, kept constantly applied by means of a thin linen cloth, over the redness which often affects the nose of delicate persons, relieves the sense of heat, and removes the florid colour. Many other spots on the face may be removed in a similar way. It is also a very useful application to inflamed piles, and also to chilblains. (Geiger. Magaz. für Pharmac. vol. xxii. p. 26.) BO'RBORUS (Iphærocera of Latreille), a genus of dipterous, or two-winged flies, of the family Muscidae. Its chief characters exist in the posterior thighs, which are much compressed, and the two basal joints of the posterior tarsi, which are considerably larger than the following. The head is concave in front and reflexed towards the mouth: the antennæ diverge, and are sometimes almost as long as the fore part of the head. The second cell of the posterior extremity of the wing (the last of the two which occupy the middle of its length) is closed before it reaches the margin. These little flies are found in marshy places, and on putrid substances, but more particularly dung heaps, in which probably their larva reside; they are always abundant about cucumber frames, and are of a brownish colour : most of the species when expanded would scarcely measure a quarter of an inch, BORDA, JEAN CHARLES, born at Dax, May 4, 1733, of an antient family, distinguished in the military service. He showed an early taste for mathematics, and overcoming the objections of his father, began his studies in military engineering, but afterwards entered the chevaulégers. This change he made in order to remain at Paris, where D'Alembert, to whom he had been presented, had recommended him to fix himself, and look forward to the Academy of Sciences. In 1756 some mathematical memoirs procured him admission into that body. He was at the battle of Hastembeck in 1757, after which he returned to the engineer service (into which he was admitted without examination), as interfering less with his pursuits. He was immediately employed at a sea port, and this circumstance decided his future career. From this time to 1769 he published various memoirs as well on hydrostatics as on pure analysis. He tried, both by experiment and theory, various matters connected with navigation and ship-building. In 1767 he entered the naval service. In 1771 he embarked in the Flora for America, with MM. Verdun and Pingré. The object of the voyage was to find methods of improving the performance of watches at sea; the observations, &c. made were published in 1778, under the title of Voyage fait par ordre du roi, &c. par MM. de Verdun,' &c. In 1776 he was sent with two frigates to survey the Canary Islands. He ascended the peak of Teneriffe, ascertained its height, and corrected some tables he had formerly made for finding the distance of a ship from it by means of its apparent height. Here he introduced into the French naval surveys the use of reflecting instruments, instead of determining |