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BOADICEA

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BOBOLINK

the process of digestion, and during this period they may be easily killed. See SNAKES.

Boadicea (bo'd-di-se'd), "the British warrior queen," was wife of the king of the Iceni, a tribe existing in the time of the Romans, living in the region now occupied by the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. At her husband's death, about 60 A. D., the Romans seized her land and treated her and her people cruelly. Boadicea, enraged, gathered a large army, captured several Roman colonies and destroyed as many as 70,000 Romans. She was in turn defeated with loss, and in despair killed herself by poison. The poets Cowper and Tennyson have told her story in verse.

Boar, the male of swine or, when applied to the wild stock of swine, used for either sex. Its native country is the Old World, where the wild stock abounds in parts of Europe, in Asia and in Africa. The domestic breeds of swine are all probably descendants of the wild stock. The wild boar is a large, powerful beast, measuring about four feet in length. Its color is dark brown. It comes from its place of concealment at night, feeding on roots, herbs, grubs etc. Boar-hunting has long been considered one of the most exciting sports of the chase It was once a favorite sport in England, and is still practiced in parts of Europe, India and Syria. In some places toils and nets are used; in others dogs, which bring the boar to bay, when he is killed with a spear or a knife. When at bay he is very dangerous, and will display remarkable courage and tenacity. The bristles are in demand for brushes.

Board of Health. This name is given to the body which is created by the government of a city, or state or nation for the purpose of protecting the health of the >eople. A national board of health was iet up by the U. S. government in 1879; but after four years it was discontinued, and its duties divided among other offices. But most of the states support their own boards of health A board was established as early as 1869 in Massachusetts, and the example was quickly followed. Large cities have city boards of health. Boards of health regulate the sale and preparation of foods and medicines; and they control the erection of buildings and all that concerns cleanliness and sanitation. They enforce needful precautions against infectious diseases and epidemics.

Board of Trade, an organization whose members more advantageously transact business together than separately. Generally it is an exchange where cotton, grain, produce or provisions are dealt in. It originated at Marseilles about 1600. The Chicago Board, founded in 1848, is the greatest grain market in the world. It has

established a uniform system of inspection and grading. It expressly provides for actual delivery of everything bought and sold, even when transferred by margin deals. Business is transacted by making contracts. These require delivery at a specified date, and are known as futures. Part-payments, called margins, are made on the day of the deal, and consist of money or securities deposited with the broker to cover probable fluctuations in price, the broker providing the balance. Suppose a member buys 5,000 bushels of wheat. He deposits $250 as margin to cover five cents' possible decline in the price per bushel. Should the price advance the trader can sell, take the profit and withdraw his deposit. If the price decline, the trader deposits enough more to cover the decline, or sells, losing as much of his margin as the amount of the decline, the broker's commissions and the interest on the money the broker advanced. Trading on margins is the leading feature of boards of trade. Almost every exchange has a clearinghouse or establishment where differences of accounts are adjusted. At the close of business, daily, all dealings are reported Members who have lost money send certified checks for the amount, those who have made it receive payment. Though business on the floor is transacted with noise and seeming confusion, and is vast in volume, it is carried on with speed and ease. One of the means that bring these results about is the trader's use of a sign-language.

Board' man, George Dana, a Baptist American missionary, was born at Liver-more, Maine, in 1810. In 1825 he went to Burma, and there threw himself into mission work, especially among the Karens, becoming practically founder of the Karen mission. Worn out by his labors, he died at the early age of 30 (Feb. n, 1831), having accomplished what few men attain in a long life. He left seventy members of his mission church, and within a few years, by means of the seed he had sown, thousands of the Karens were converted.

Bobolink, a beautiful American bird. Passing the winter in S. America, it comes northward in the early spring, and breeds from New Jersey north to Nova Scotia and westward to Utah. Its length is about seven or eight inches, and its color varies with the season In the early summer the male is black, buff and white, while the female is sparrow-like in plumage. This bright coat the male changes in July and August for one like that of its mate, and journeying south, they are shot for the table under the name of reed-birds. The birds cease singing at the close of the nesting season In late autumn they appear in the cultivated fields of rice in South