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LEFT BLOEMFONTEIN 69 county, N. H. He was the inventor of an apparatus by which he recovered a valuable cargo from a sunken ship near Plsrmouth, Mass., in 1783. His success led him to go to Europe for similar en- terprises, but he met with no encourage- ment. In 1793 he began the construction of the canal around Amoskeag Falls in the Merrimac which now bears his name. He died in Haverhill, Mass., Sept. 1, 1807. BLOEMFONTEIN (blem-fon'tin), city and capital of the former Orange Free State (name changed by the British, May 29, 1900, to Orange River Colony), South Africa; on the Modder river, 200 miles W. by N. of Durban, the base of British operations in the war against the Boers. In the war between Great Britain and the South African and Orange Free State Republics in 1899-1900 it was the seat of important military operations. After the appointment of Lord Roberts to the supreme command of the British forces operating against the Boers, he led an expedition against the city and forced its surrender on March 13, 1900, President Steyn escaping capture. Pop. (1918) 15,752. BLOIS (blwa), the capital of the French department of Loire-et-Cher, 99 miles S. S. W. of Paris, on the Loire. It consists of an upper town, a lower town, and several suburbs. The old castle, which has played an important part in French history, was restored by the Government in 1845. The main en- trance is by a fine Gothic portal open- ing into a quadrangle, on the E. side of which is a pillared cloister, on the N. a pile of buildings in the Renais- sance style, on the W. some unfinished buildings, and on the S. is the ancient part begun by the Dukes of Orleans. There is also a cathedral of late date, the Church of St. Nicholas (12th cen- tury), a bishop's palace, Roman aque- duct, etc. The castle was long occupied by the counts of the name; and became a favorite residence of the kings of France. Louis XII. was born, Francis I., Henry II., Charles IX., and Henry III. held court here. During the World War Blois was used as a depot and head- quarters for the American Expeditionary Force. Pop. about 25,000. BLOOD, the red circulating fluid in the bodies of man and the higher animals. It is formed from chyle and lymph when these substances are subjected to the action of oxygen taken into the lungs by the process of inspiration. ^ It is the general material from which all the secretions are derived, besides which it BLOODBIRD carries away from the frame whatever is noxious or superfluous. In man^ its temperature rarely varies from 36.6° C. =98° F., but in birds it sometimes reaches 42.8° C.=109° F. The blood in reptiles, amphibia, and fishes, and the circulating fluid in the invertebrata, is cold, that is, in no case more than a little above the temperature of the sur- rounding medium. The vessels which conduct the blood out of the heart are called arteries, and those which bring it back again veins. The blood in the left side of the heart and in the arteries, called arterial blood, is bright red; that in the right side of the heart and in the veins, called venous blood, is blackish purple. Viewed by spectrum analysis, the haemoglobin of arterial blood differs from that of venous blood, the former being combined with oxygen and the latter being deoxidized. Blood has a saline and disagreeable taste, and, when fresh, a peculiar smell. It has an alkaline reaction. It is not, as it appears, homogeneous, but under a powerful microscope is seen to be a colorless fluid with little, round red bodies called blood disks or blood corpuscles, and a few larger ones called white corpuscles floating about in it. When removed from the body and allowed to stagnate it separates into a thicker portion called cruor, crassamentum or clot, and a thin- ner one denominated serum. See Bleed- ing, Blood Letting, etc. In law, whole blood is descent not simply from the same ancestor, but from the same pair of ancestors, while half blood is descent only from the one. The corruption of blood is the judicial strip- ping it of the right to carry with it up or down the advantage of inheritance; its purification or restitution is the restora- tion to it of the privilege of inheritance. BLOOD, THOMAS (commonly called Colonel Blood), born in Ireland about 1618, was a disbanded officer of Oliver Cromwell, and lost some estates in Ire- land at the Restoration. His whole life was one of plotting and adventure, though it is probable that he acted a double part, keeping the Government in- formed of so much as might secure his own safety. His most daring exploit was an attempt to steal the crown jewels (May 9, 1671) from the Tower. He was seized with the crown in his possession, but was not only pardoned by Charles, but obtained forfeited Irish estates of £500 annual value. He died in London, in 1680. BLOODBIRD (myzomela sanguino- lenta), an Australian species of honey-