Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/233

* BLUE LIGHT. 203 BLUE RIDGE. dried, and intimately mixed in the following proportions by weight : nitre, 6 ; sulphur, 2 ; ter- sulphuret of antimony, 1. The mixture consti- tutes the blue light, and when kindled by a red- hot coal, red-hot iron, or Uame, immediately bursts into rapid and vivid combustion, evolving a brilliant, penetrating, but mellow light, which, during the darkness of night, readily overcomes the gloom for a considerable space. As the fumes evolved during the combustion of the blue light contain an oxide of antimony, and are poisonous, the light cannot be used with safety in rooms or inclosed spaces. BLUE LIGHT. In American political his- tory, a name applied to a member of that faction of the Federalist Party (q.v. ) which opposed the War of 1812. It was derived from the fact, or alleged fact, that when Decatur, with two frigates, was blockaded by a superior English fleet in the harbor of New London, Conn., in 1813-14, certain Federalists warned the English commander by burning blue lights at the en- trance of the harbor each time the Americans at- tempted to get to sea under cover of darkness. BLUE MANTLE (so named from the color of his robe). The title of an English pursui- vant-at-arms. See Pursuivant. BLUE MONDAY. A name originally re- ferring to a custom in parts of Europe, espe- cially in Bavaria, in the Sixteenth Centur of decorating churches in blue colors on the ilonday preceding Lent, when the people celebrated the carnival festivities; but the excesses committed led to the legal abolition of the custom. In the Lnited States it is a custom of some women of the poorer class to call every Monday by this name, as it is the general day for doing the hard laimdrj'-work of the week. BLUE MOUNTAINS. The name of several mountain chains in Xew South Wales, Australia, Jamaica, Vest Indies, and Xew .Jersey and Penn- sylvania. (1) The Blue Mountains of Xew South Wales run nearly parallel with the coast, and form a part of the complex Cordillera of Australia, which extends from Cape York on the north to Wilson's Promontory on the south. They are composed of horizontal sandstone strata broken by caiions and deep gullies, and present a precipitous front toward the east. The highest point of the Blue Mountains, !Mount Beemarang, is about 4100 feet high. They are crossed by a railway which affords communication between Sydney and the rich pasturage and mining re- gions of the interior (Map: Xew South Wales, E 4). (2) The Blue Mountains of .Jamaica traverse a considerable part of the length of the island, and attaJn an extreme altitude of 7400 feet. (.3) The Kittatinny and the Shawangunk mountains forming the second ridge of the Ap- palachian Mountains in X'ew York, Pennsylvania, and X'ew Jersey are also called the Blue Moun- tains. These are to be distinguished from the Blue Ridgp. BLUE NILE. See Nn.E. BLUE NOSE. A nickname for the Nova Sco- tians, from the effect of the climate, or from a kind of potato called 'Blue Xose' raised in that region. BLUE PETEB (blue + 'peter, for repeater). A rectangular blue flag with a white centre of similar shape, but of about one-fourth of the dimensions. It is the letter 'P' of the inter- Viil,. III.— u. national marine code (see Signals, Marine) ; when hoisted alone at the fore (i.e. at the fore- truck, or top of the foremast) it signifies that the vessel will shortly sail, or is ready to sail. In the United States Navy a flag called the cornet takes the place of the blue peter as a sailing signal. BLUE PILL (Pilula hydrargtjri). The most simple form in which mercury can be admin- istered internally. It consists merely of two parts of mercury rubbed up with three parts of conserve of roses, till globules of mercury can no longer be detected ; to this is added powdered licorice-root, so that a pill of five grains contains one grain of mercury. In cases of torpid condition of the liver or in- flammation of that organ, blue pill is much used as a purgative, either alone or combined with some other drug, such as rhubarb. As a saline purgative, the common dose of blue pill is one or two pills of five grains each, followed by a purgative draught, such as a Seidlitz powder. There is always danger of salivation, with the accompanying deterioration of gums and teeth, and the medicine should be taken only when ordered by a physician. It is recorded that a blue pill taken on each of three successive nights caused fatal salivation. Many proprietary pur- gative pills contain metallic mercury-. BLUE-RIBBON ARMY. The name adopt- ed in England by a society of total abstainers, from the blue badge worn by the members. Since 1883 the society has been knoTi as the 'Gospel Temperance Union.' The organization originated in America in 1878, where it was known from its founder as the Murphy Movement. See Tem- rER.XCE. BLUE RIDGE. The name of the most east- erly range of tlic Appalachians in the United States (Map: United States, eastern part, K 3). It forms an almost continuous chain from West Point in New York (the Highlands) do^vn to the north of Alabama, through Xew Jersey (Schooley's Slountain), Pennsylvania (South Mountain), Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. In New Jersey and Pennsylvania the name of Blue Ridge is sometimes, but inaccurately, ap- plied to the 'second' range, properly the Blue (or Kittatinny) Mountains, which runs parallel with this, and is separated from it by a part of the Great Valley. The Blue Ridge proper refers especially to that part of the range below Penn- sylvania, which separates the Great Valley from the Piedmont Region. In south Virginia the range widens into a broad jjlateau. which reaches its widest extent in X'orth Carolina, where it is intersected by numerous groups known as the Black, Cowee, X'antahala, and South mountains. The.se groups run transverse to the main axis of the Blue Ridge, and their valleys are occujiied by numerous streams with a general northwesterly course. The Black Mountains include the high- est summits of the range as well as of the Appa- lachians. Mount Mitchell, or Black Dome, the loftiest point, is 6710 feet, while Guyot's Peak, Sandoz Knob, Gibbe's Peak, and several others are over (iOOO feet. Toward the north the Bhie Ridge falls off in elevation; in Virginia the sum- mits are about 4000 feet, and in Pennsylvania and Xew Jersey they are much less. The range is crossed by several large rivers (lowing through narrow defiles or gaps, as the Hudson in its traverse of the Highlands, and the Potomac at