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* BLACKSTONE. 148 BLACK WA£BIOB. what had heretofore lain buried in the cumbrous language of lawyers like Littleton — Blackstone was unsurpassed, and rendered an important service to the country. But he was ambitious of combining with this exposition the liigher task of explaining the reasons for the law, as well as its merits and defects. For this survey of the law, from the legislator's point of view, he had not the requisite qualifications. His knowledge of English history was, as llallam tells us, super- ficial, and his study of the pliilosophy of law had been imperfect. With the works, indeed, of Montesquieu and Beccaria he was acquainted; but the mode in which he quotes them shows that he had imbibed nothing of their spirit. The method followed in the C'oinmeittaries was as unscientific as could be imagined, and had not even the merit of originality. It was taken, with little alteration and no improvement, from Sir Matthew Hale's Analysis of the English Laic. Possibly the haste with which the Commentaries must have been composed, being originally in the form of lectures, may have led to some of their imperfections. Notwithstanding its defects, the positive merits of the work — its s.ystematic char- acter, its comprehensiveness, the accuracy of its exposition, and the dignity and charm of its style — have made it the best - known, and in many respects the most influential treatise in English law. All subsequent commentaries, in- cluding that of Kent, have been nuxlelcd upon it, and it continued to be for a hundreil years the foundation of all legal education in America. Numberless editions of the Connnnitaries have been printed, including those of Chitty. Chris- tian, Cooley, Sharswood, and, last and best of them all, the admirable edition of Lewis pub- lished in 1898. As more than a century has elapsed since the Commentaries were composed, so many alterations are requisite to adapt them to the existing state of the law, that it may be said that their purpose has been served, and that they are now valuable cliiefiy as materials for history. In addition to the Commentaries, Blackstone wrote several essays and treatises on legal topics. Consult: His Life, by Clitherow, prefixed to Blackstone's Jfeports of Cases, etc. (London, 1781) ; also his Life, in The Law Magazine, Vol. XV, (London, 18:3(5) ; and his Life in The Dic- tionary of National liioyraithy. Vol. V. (Lon- don, 1886). BLACK STONE OF MECCA. A sacred stone in the Kaaba at Mecca, of which legend tells that it was given by an angel to Abraham, and that it was originally white, but became blackened by the sins of mankind. The stone is probably ii iiu'h'urite, BLACKSTONE RIVEB, A river of :Massa- chusetts, rising near Worcester, flowing south- east through Rhode Island, and emptying into the Providence River, near Providence. In the upper part of its course the river thiws through a series of small lakes and ponds. Be- low Pawtucket it is known as the Seekonk. It is the most important river of eastern New England south of the Merrimae, and is noted for the amount of power it furnishes, there be- ing along its banks a succession of mills. It is about .'50 miles long, and drains above Pawtucket an area of 458 square miles. It falls over 400 feet from Worcester to the sea. BLACKTAIL, An American deer, notable for its lilack tail: (1) The mule-deer (q.v.). (2) The Columbian deer (Odoeoileus Columbianus) of the coa.st region, from central California to Alaska, It is one-third smaller than the nuiledeer, but has similar antlers. In summer it is reddish, but in winter brownish-gray, mottled with black, darkest along the spine. "Top of head chestnut and black ; black stripe over the eyes, meeting on forehead; chin white, behind is a black patch; face gray; upper throat, jiosterior portion of un- der parts, and base of tail, white: rest of under parts mottled similarly to the back: chest sooty; legs dark cinnamon, inner side white: tail above black, . . . beneath, white" (Elliot), Alas- kan specimens are paler. This deer exists only between the mountains and the coast, and fre- quents the forested foothills and valleys covered with chaparral, where it is tolerably abundant. Its habits are similar to those of the mule-deer. Consult: Earrell, in Shields's Hig Came of North America (Chicago, 1890) ; Van Dyke, in The Deer Family (New York, 1902) ; and bibliog- raphy under Deer. For illustration, see Plate of Deeb of North America. BLACK TIN. A name applied to tin ore ready for smelting. See Tin. BLACK- VARNISH TREE. See jMelanoe- RliaCA. BLACK VOMIT. The dark matter vomited in yellow fever, usually a sign of fatal termina- tion of the disease. It is in part coivgulated blood. The fever itself is sometimes called the 'black vomit.' See Yellow Fever. BLACK WAD. Native black pyrolusite or lead, so called by miners in Great Britain, BLACK'WALL, Part of Greater London. For Blackwall Tunnel, see London. BLACK WALNUT. See Walnut. BLACK WARRIOR (from the Choctaw name Tuscaloosee). (Map: Alabama, B 2). A river of Alabama, formed by the jungtion of sev- eral large streams in Walker County: Sipsey fork, coming in from the northwest; and Mul- berry and Locust forks, from the northeast. It flows southwest, joining the Tombigbee River near Demopolis in the west central part of the State, It is navigable to Tuscaloosa, above which city it has a considerable fall and fur- nishes extensive water power. BLACK WARRIOR, The. An American merchant vessel, which, touching at Havana in February, 1854, on its way from Mobile to New York, was seized by the Cuban officials for violat- ing the customs regulations of that port. Her cargo was confiscated, and her cai)tain heavily fined, in spite of the protests of the American consul. The afl'air caused great excitement in the United States, especially in the South, and was the subject of a spirited corres])ndcnce be- twwn the American and Spanish governments. Had it not been for the strong feeling aroused throughout the North at that time by the de- bates over the Kansas-Nebraska Bill (q.v.), it is possible that the slave power, desirous of obtain- ing Cuba, would luive succeeded in forcing the Administration to use this as a pretext for a war of conquest against Spain, Spain finally restored the confiscated cargo and remitted the captain's fine. For a gnod account of the nego- tiations over the Black ^YarTior incident, con-