Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/120

LEFT BOMBA larger European cities: Petrograd, Ma- drid, and Paris; also in Chicago. The anarchists have regularly established factories for the production of the mis- siles. The usual method of construction is to fill a hollow sphere with some high explosive together with pieces of scrap iron, nails, bullets, or anything that will wound. The explosives used are gen- erally nitroglycerine, fulminate of mer- cury, etc. The most deadly of all the agents, however, is a bomb made with chlorate of potash and picric acid. BOMBA, a title popularly conferred upon King Ferdinand II. of Naples and by which he will be recorded in history. This appellation he received from the violation of his solemn oath to the citi- zens of Palermo, which city he perfidi- ously bombarded, in 1849; thus outrag- ing his own plighted word, the laws of humanity, and the constitutional policy he had sworn to observe. BOMBARDIER BEETLE, a name ap- plied to many coleopterous insects of the tribe earabidae. They are divided into two genera — the bi-achhrns, and the ap- tinus; the latter has no membranous wings under the wing sheath. Those found near the tropics are large and brilliantly colored, but those found in this country are generally small. They are called bombardier beetles on account of a remarkable property they possess of violently expelling from the anus a pungent acrid fluid, which, if the species be large, has the power of producing dis- coloration of the skin, similar to that Produced by nitric acid. It also changes lue vegetable colors to red, and then to yellow. BOMBARDMENT, an attack with bombs. Specifically, the act of throwing shells and shot into a town, fort, or ship. Sometimes carcasses, stink pots, rock- ets, hot shot, and other incendiary mis- siles are used for this purpose. The bombardment of a town takes more effect upon the civilians than the garrison, as the latter, in any well constructed for- tified place, are lodged in bomb proof buildings. Before bombarding a town, it is customary to give notice thereof, to allow women, children, and non-com- batants to leave it. Bombs and bombing reached a high point of development dur- ing the World War. See Explosives; Artillery. BOMBAX, also known as the silk cotton tree; a genus of plants belonging to the order sterculiaceas (sterculiads) and the section bombaceae. B. pentan- drum is the cotton tree of India. The fruit is larger than a swan's egg, and ■when. ripe opens in five parts, display- 98 BOMBAY ing many roundish, pealike seeds envel- oped in dark cotton. This tree yields a gum, given in conjunction with spices in certain stages of bowel complaints. B. ceiba, the five-leaved silk cotton tree, rises to a great height. Its native coun- try is South America and the adjacent West India Islands, where its immense trunk is scooped into canoes. BOMBAY, a presidency and one of the eight great provinces of British India: between lat. 14° and 29° N., and long. 66° and 77° E. It includes Bombay, Tind and Aden. Area, 123,059 square miles. Pop. about 19,672,642, and the native states, area, 63,864 square miles, pop. about 7,411,676. The city of Bom- bay has a population of about 1,000,000. The southern portions are well supplied with moisture, but a great part of Sind is the most arid portion of India. The climate varies, being unhealthful in the capital, Bombay, and its vicinity, but at other places, such as Poonah, very fa- vorable to Europeans. The chief pro- ductions of the soil are cotton, rice, millet, wheat, barley, dates, and the cocoa palm. The manufactures are cotton, silk, leather, etc. The great export is cotton. The administration is in the hands of a governor and council. The chief source of revenue is the land, which is largely held on the ryotwar system. Like Bengal and Madras, the presidency has its own army. BOMBAY, the chief seaport on the W. coast of India, and capital of the presidency of the same name; at the southern extremity of the island of Bom- bay; is divided into two portions, one known as the Fort, and formerly sur- rounded with fortifications, on a nar- row point of land with the harbor on the E. side and Back Bay on the W.; the other known as the City, a little to the N. W. In the Fort are Bombay Cas- tle, the Government offices, and almost all the merchants' warehouses and offices. Bombay has many handsome buildings, both public and private, as the cathedral, the university, the secretariat, the high court. Various industries, such as dye- ing, tanning, and metal working, are carried on, and there are large cotton factories. The commerce is very exten- sive, exports and imports of merchan- dise reaching a total value of over $300,- 000,000 annually. The harbor is one of the largest and safest in India. There is a large traffic with steam vessels be- tween Bombay and Great Britain, and regular steam communication with China, Australia, Singapore, Mauritius, etc. The island of Bombay, which is about 11 miles long and 3 miles broad, formerly subject to inundations, is pro-