Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/75

LEFT BLACK SHEEP 53 BLACK WABidlOR miles: many large rivers fall into it — the Danube, Dniester, Dnieper, Don, etc. In the winter it is scarcely navigable. During January and February the shores from Odessa to the Crimea are ice bound. The most important ports are those of Odessa, Kherson, Eupatoria, Sebastopol, Batum, Trebizond, Samsun, Sinope, and Varna. The fisheries are of some value. After the capture of Constantinople the Turks excluded all but their own ships from the Black Sea until 1774, when, by the Treaty of Kainarji, they ceded to Russia the right also to trade in it. The same right was accorded to Austria in 1784, and by the Peace of Amiens to Great Britain and France in 1802. The preponderance thereafter gained by Russia was one of the causes of the Crimean War, in which she was com- pelled to cede her right to keep armed vessels in it, the sea being declared neutral by the Treaty of Paris, 1856. In 1871, however, when France could not attend, owing to the Franco-Prussian War, the sea was deneutralized by a conference of the European Powers at London in response to the Russian pro- test. For military and naval operations in 1914-1918 see World War. BLACK SHEEP, (Kdrd-Koin-loo), a tribe of Turkomans, so called from their standard. This tribe was extirpated by the White Sheep. A black sheep: a disgrace to the family; a maiivais sujet; a workman who will not join in a strike. BLACK SNAKE (coluber constrictor), a common snake in North America, reach- ing a length of 5 or 6 feet, and so swift as to have been named the racer, with no poison fangs. It feeds on small quadru- peds, birds, etc., and is useful in killing rats. BLACKSTONE, SIR WILLIAM, an English jurist, born in London, July 10, 1723 ; educated at the Charter House and Pembroke College, Oxford. In 1743 he was elected fellow of All-Souls College, Oxford, and in 1746 was called to the bar; but, having attended the Westmins- ter law coui'ts for seven years without success, he retired to Oxford. Here he gave lectures on law, which suggested to Mr. Viner the idea of founding a professorship at Oxford for the study of the common law; and Blackstone was, in 1758, chosen the first Vinerian Pro- fessor. In 1759 he published a new edition of the "Great Charter and Charter of the Forest"; and, during the same year, resumed his attendance at Westminster Hall with abundant success. In 1761 he was elected M. P. for Hindon, made King's Counsel and Solicitor- General to the Queen. He was also ap- pointed Principal of New Inn Hall ; which office, with the Vinerian Professorship, he soon resigned. In 1765 he published the first volume of his famous "Com- SIR WILLIAM BLACKSTONE mentaries on the Laws of England." It was long the principal text-book of Eng- lish law. He died Feb. 14, 1780. BLACK TIN, tin ore when dressed, stamped, and washed ready for smelt- ing, forming a black powder. BLACK WALNUT, a valuable timber tree (juglans nigra) of the United States and its fruit. The great size often reached by this tree, the richness of the dark brown wood, the unique beauty of the grain sometimes found in burls, knots, feathers and in the curl of the roots, all conspire to make this the most choice and high priced of all our native woods. About 1870 walnut was extensively used in the manufacture of fine fur- niture and finishings in the United States. Then quartered-oak grew in favor, but since 1900 walnut has again become a favorite. Though found to some extent in the Atlantic States from Massachusetts southward, the great source of supply has been the central portions of the Mississippi valley. The walnut is at home in the rich alluvial bottom lands of the Western streams and in the stony limestone soils of the hills and mountains. BLACK WARRIOR, a river of Ala- bama, formed by the confluence of the