Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/11

 THE AMERICAN CYCLOPAEDIA. BOLAN PASS BOLAJf PASS, a defile in the mountains of N. E. Beloochistan, between Dadur and Shawl, on the route between the lower Indus and the table land of Afghanistan. It consists of a succession of ravines rising 90 ft. to the mile for 55 m., when the summit is reached at a height of 5,793 ft. above the level of the sea. Bolan Pass. A small stream called the Bolan river flows down the pass, and after rains is a dangerous torrent. The British expedition to Afghanistan in 1839 spent six days, from March 16 to 21, in passing through this defile. BOMS, a missile weapon in common use among the Indians on the great South Ameri- can plains, and especially among the gauchos of the Argentine Republic, chiefly used for cap- turing animals. It consists of two balls covered with leather, and united by a thin plaited thong BOLE varying in length from 6 to 8 feet. The gau- cho holds one of the balls in his right hand, whirls the other round his head, and when sufficient momentum has been obtained sends them whirling like chain shot through the air. Striking the legs of an animal, the thong is tightly wound about them, rendering escape impossible. This weapon has often been used with great effect in war. The balls may be of stone, iron, or wood ; those of iron, usually small, may be projected an amazing distance. BOLBEl, a town of France, in the department of Seine-InfeVieure, on the Bolbec river, 16m. E. N. E. of Havre; pop. in 1866, 9,063. The ample water power furnished by the river Bol- bec makes it a thriving manufacturing town. Its principal productions are cotton fabrics, but it has also woollen and linen factories, dye works, and tanneries. BOLE (Gr. /?<M.o?, a mass), an argillaceous earthy mineral which occurs in amorphous masses of various colors, as yellow, black, brown, and bright red, all derived from oxide of iron. The substance is probably disintegra- ted basalt. It has a conchoidal fracture, yields to the nail, and the streak is shining. When placed in water it absorbs it rapidly, and falls to powder. It was formerly employed as a medicine for its absorbent, astringent, and tonic properties; the last due, no doubt, only to the iron in its composition. It is still used in India in medicine, and in Europe for giving a color to anchovies and tooth powders, and as a medicine in veterinary practice. Analysis shows it to be a hydrous silicate of alumina, with varying proportions of oxide of iron, and very small quantities of lime and magnesia. It is used as food by some of the native Indians of South America, and the Japanese eat it to induce a thin and spare habit of the body. In Germany bole is calcined, washed, and ground for a paint, and employed to remove grease stains from cloth or wooden floors, and hence called Bergseife, mountain soap. The paint known as sienna, or burnt sienna, is a prepara-