Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/350

 BOM

BOM

of a darker colour in burning. Thefe are the feveral charac- ters, by which the Armenian boles may he dirtinguifhcd from all other earths of the fame colours. This lafl fpecies is what we now pretend to ufe. It is found in vaft plenty in the north-tad: parts of Armenia, and is fomctimes ufed in Ger- many ; .but fcarce ever feen in England. What is called bole Armenk in our fbops being no orhcr than a villainous compo- sition of no better materials than common tobacco-pipe-clay, and an ochre known among painters by the name of Spaniih brown. Vid. HUH Hift. of Foil" p. 2, 8, ic. The Armenian bole is ufed in diarrhaeas, dyfenterics, catarrhs, &e. Some alfo give it an alexipharmic virtue, efficacious in peftilential difeafes ; but its ufe in this intention is at belt du- bious. Vid. Lang. Epift. Med. 1. 1. ep. )8. The Germans, for the Armenian bob, ufe that of Tocay, which Crato holds preferable to it. The French ufe a like clay, found in divers provinces of that kingdom; and the Englifh fullers earth. Crat. ConfiL .70. It. Epift. 123, 130. Cafl. Lex. Med. p. 108. Phil. Tranf. N° 1. p. 1 1; Boyle, Phil. Work. abridg. T. 1. p. jo,. Bolus Bohemica, Bohemian hole-, in the materia medica, a medi- cinal earth, dug in many parts of the kingdom whofe name it bears, and ufed there, in Germany, and fome other coun- tries, as an aftringent, and a valuable medicine in malignant fevers. It is a very pure and fine bole, confiderably heavy, and of afomewhat deep yellow, with a flight admixture of redifh- nefs. It is naturally of a fmooth furface, fomewhat friable, and melting in the mouth, with an unctuous or fatty tafte. It does not effervefce with acids, and will not burn to a rednefs,

■ as the common clays and ochres readily do in a fmall fire. Hill, Hift of Fofl' p. 9.

Bolus GalUca, French bole, in the materia medica, an earth dug in many parts of France ; but principally in the neighbourhood of Parisj and very much ufed there, and fometimes in England. It is a very good aftringent, and much better than the adul- terated fubftance we commonly call bole Armenic. It is an irregular and rude fubftance, very heavy, and compact in fome parts, and loofe and friable in others. It is of a pale-red co- lour, veined, and fpotted with a pale yellowifh-red earth, of a much loofer texture than the reft, and properly a marie. It eafily breaks between the fingers, and melts in the mouth,

■ leaving an unctuous foftnefs on the tongue. Hill, Hift. of Foil p. 11.

The apothecary ought to choofe fuch as is free from veins, or elfeto pick out the veins before the mafs is powdered, they being not at all of the nature of the reft ; and the beft is that which melts molt freely in the mouth, and is perfectly free from fand.

Bolus Orientalis, in the materia medica, a name by which fome authors have called the bole Armenic. Moft of them, how- ever, underftand by this name the red kind, which is the bole of Avicenna, not the yellow one of Galen.

Bolus Toccavienfis, in the materia medica, an earth found in Hungary, rcfcmblmg bole Armenic, and of fimilar virtues. Crato, ap. Boyle, Works fol. Edit. vol. 1, p. 501.

BOM, in zoology, the name of an American ferpent, remark- able for its noife, which is like the found of the word ufed as its name. It grows to a vaft fize, and is perfectly harmlefs, never hurting any one. Bay, Syn. Anim. p. 329.

BOMAR1N, in zoology, a name ufed by fome for the hippopo- tamus, or river-horfe. Grew, Muf. p. 14.

BOMB {Cycl.) — Bombs may be ufed without mortar pieces, as was done by the Venetians at Candia, when the Turks had poffeffed themfelves of the ditch, rolling down bombs upon them along a plank fet doping towards their works, with ledges on the fides to keep the bomb right forwards. They are fome- times alfo buried under ground to blow up. Milit, Diet, in voc. See Caisson.

A new fort of bombs of vaft weight have been lately invented by the French, called comminges. Fafch Ing. Lex. p. 108.

■ Bombs came not into common ufe before the year 1634, and then only in the Dutch and Spanifh armies. One Malthus, an Englifh engineer, is faid to have firft carried them into France, where they were put in ufe at the fiege of ColHoufe, in 1642. Aubin. Diet. Mar. p. 99.

The art of throwing bombs makes a branch of gunnery, found- ed on the theory of projectiles, and the laws and qualities of gunpowder. See Gunnery, Projectile, Gun-Pow- der, &c. Cycl. and Suppl.

MefT. Blondel a, Guifnee b , de RefTons c , de la Hire ■', and others c, have written exprefly on the art of throwing bd?nbs. — [ a L 1 Art dejetterdes bombes, Par. 1683. b Theor. des Project, ou du jet des bombes, printed in Mem. Acad. Scienc. an. 1707. p. 181, feq. An extract of it is given by Fontenelle, in Hift. Acad. 1707. p. 150. c Meth. pour

tircr les bombes avec fucces, printed in Mem. de 1'Acad. Scienc. ann. 1716.^. 101, feq. d Vid. Mem. Acad. Scienc. aim.

J70C. p. 257. Hift ibid. p. 183. c Bibl. Ital. T. 9. p.

I98. Reyn..Ani[. Demont. 1. 8. fee. 2. §. 321, feq.j

Water-Boyis. See Water-W^.

■Bome-t^/Vj- are (aid to be the invention of M. Reyneau, and to ' have been firft ufed at the bombardment of Algiers. Till then, it had been judged impracticable to bombard a place from the ica. Hift. Acad. Scienc, 1 7 1 9. p 128.

LOMBARD (Cycl-)— Bombards can hardly be fuppofed to have

been of metal, nor charged with gun-powder. They were rather a fort of bahftas for throwing ltones, and were played with ropes. FroiJJ'art s T. 2. c. .103. Du Cange, Gloll*. Lat. T.i. p. 579.

BOMBARDING, the art or act of attacking a city or fortrefs, by throwing bombs into it, in order to ruin or fet on fire the houfes and magazines, and do other mifchiefs. Ftfjch. Ing, Lex. p. 107, feq. Aubin. Diet. Mar. p. 90. See Bomb, Cycl. and Supp. Bombarding is not reckoned the moft honourable method of making war, as it rather tends to do mifchief to the inhabitants than to the works.

BOMBASINE, in commerce, a kind of filk-fturr'manufc&ured at Milan, and thence fent into France and other countries. Savar. Diet. Comm. T. 1. p. 401.

The French alfo ufe the word bombafm.e for fluff made of cot- ton, more properly called dimitty.

BOMBAST, in matters of diction, a ftyle too high and pom- pous for the fubject and occafion ; or words too big and founding for the fenfe and meaning. JVercnf. Treat, of Logomach. p. 187. Bouh. Man. de bjen Penfer, dial. 3. p. 241, feq. Item, dial. 4. p. 34 2 > feq See Style, Cycl.

BOMBAX, a term ufed to fignify the cotton-tree. See Cot- ton, Cycl.

The word is alfo written bambax, and doubtlefs came origi- nally, by corruption, from the word go^f|, Du Cange, Gloil, Graec. T. 1. p 580, feq. See Bombyx.

BOMBUS, in mufic, an artificial motion with the hands, imi- tating, in cadence and harmony, the buzzing of bees. The word is originally Greek, |3o f .4j3i§\ where it fignifies the buz or noife of bees, gnats, and the like. Pitifc. Lex. Antiq. T. 1. p. 286. Voff. Etym. p. 74.

In this fenfe, bombus made one of the fpecies of applaufe ufed by the antient auditories. Vid. Suet, in Ner. c. 20. ap. Hift. Acad. Infer. T. 1. p. 142.

Bombus, in medicine, denotes a murmuring noife, as of wind breaking out of a narrow into a larger cavity, frequently beard in the thick inteftines.

The bombus heard in the ears, in acute difeafes, is laid down by' Hippocrates as a fign of death. Hippoc. Coac. t. 1 35. ap. Cajl. Lex. Med. p. ic8.

BOMBYCINUM, in antient writers, properly denoted a fpecies of filk, brought from AfTyria and the ifland of Cos. In which fenfe, it ftoGd diftinguifhed from ferlcv.m, another fort of fdk brought from the Indies. |vlem. Acad. Infer. T. 7. p. 344. SeeSERicuM.

BOMBYLIUS, in natural hiftory, the name of the common humble bee, of which we have a great variety of fpeciesj. many of them very beautiful.

Mr, Ray, in his hiftory of infects, mentions no lefs than nine- teen kinds, all wholly different from one another. 1 . The great black humble bee ; which is all over black, except that the t two laft rings of the body are redifh. This fpecies is very hairy. 2. The fmall humble bee, with a, black back, and an orange-coloured tail and belly. 3. The common honey- making humble bee. This is of a middle fize ; its back is co- vered with long redifh hairs, and it ufually builds its ntft in the grafs. 4. The middle-fized black humble bee, with a yel- low down on the middle of its legs. 5. The great black bum- blebee, with a double Itreak of yellow on the neck, and on the body. 6. The great black humble bee, with a yellow tail, and a yellow line on the back. 7. The middle black humble bee, with a red tail, and a yellowifh green line on the ftioulders. 9. The white-haired great humble bee, with a redifh tail. 10. The middle-fized black humble bee, with thrcehncs of a redifti yellow on the back. n. The great black humble bee, with a white tail, and three lines of yellow on the back. 12. The middle fized hmnble bee, with a black ihining body, and white line round the neck. 1 3. The middle-fized humble bee, covered all over with redifh hair. 14. The great black bumble bee, with a body intirely fmooth and fhining. The wings of this fpecies are of a beautiful bluilh purple colour. 15. The great black humble bee, with a white tail, and with two ftreaks of yellow on the back. The belly of this fpecies is wholly black. 1 6. The great black humble bee, with a white tail, and with two rows of a redifh yellow on its back. The lower variegation is rather a large fpot than a line. 17. The great humble bee, with two lines on its back ; the upper of a dufky yellow, and confiderably broad ; the other narrower, anil white, i 8. The great humble bee, with a broad yellow collar, and with the hinder part of the body covered with fine white hairs. 19. The fmall black humble bee, with a white collar, and a white rein round both its fides, from the breaft to the tail. Ray, Hift. Inf. p. 246. See Bee.

BOMBYLOPHAGES, humble beefeater, in natural hiftorv, the name of a fly of the tipula or father- long-legs kind, which is larger and ftronger than the common kinds ; and loving honey, without knowing how to extract it from the flowers, it fei-z.es on the humble bees, and deftroys them, in order to get at the bag of honey which they contain. It is of a blackifh colour in the body ; its head is of a bright red, and the eyes very large and prominent. It is chiefly found in mountainous places.

BOMBYLUS Teredo, in natural hiftory, the name of a fpecies of humble bee, which eats its way into wood, and there makes its neft. Mr. Banifter mentions one of thefc nefts, which he

found