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* BLUNT. 207 BOA. traveled through Spain, Algeria, Egypt, and the Syrian Desert. In 1S82 he championed the cause of Arabi Pasha (q.v.), and later took up the Xationalist cause in Ireland. In 1887-88 he vas imprisoned for two months for taking part in a prohibited meeting at Woodford, in County Gal way. Blunt won attention by the Lore Sonnets of Proteus (1880), containing a fine sonnet on Gibraltar. This volume has been followed by Esther (1892) ; Griseldii (1893) ; the Quatrains'of Youth (1898) : Satan Absolved: A Mi/stery (1899) ; and many other poems. Blunt's poems are intensely human and realistic. Con- sult Henlev and Wvndham, edd., The Poetry of TT. Blunt "(London' 1898). BLUNTHEAD. A curious eolubrine innoc- uous snake (Ambtyccphalus boa) of .Java and the East Indies, the type of the family Ambly- cephalidtp. and allied to the night tree-snakes (Dipsadidit) . It is slender, about 3 feet long, and purplish in color, densely marbled and mot- tled with brown, with rosy spots and checks, and lips carnation-red. Its large head is shaped like that of a mastiff, "which animal it further re- sembles by snapping at whatever disturbs it." Having a preiiensile tail, it climbs with great ease, and at night creeps about the thatch of houses in Java and Borneo, in search of insects, the natives welcoming it as a vermin-destroyer. BLUNTSCHLI, blunt'shle, Johaxx Kaspak (1808-811. A German jurist, bom in Switzer- land, 1808; graduated at Bonn in 1829. He was professor of law in the University of Ziirich, a member of the grand council of the local govern- ment, and strongly opposed the civil war of 1847-48. In 1848 he became professor of Ger- man and international law at Munich, and in 1861 professor of political science and jurispru- dence at Heidelberg. In 18(J4, with Baumgarten and others, he founded the Protestant Union, and subsequently presided over several Protestant conventions, and over the General Synod at Ba- den in 1867. He also presided, in 1861, over the International Congress of Jurists in Dresden. Bluntschli was one of the founders and ( 1875- 77) president of the Institute of International Law at Ghent, and was generally considered one of the highest European authorities on interna- tional law and the laws of war. He was a Lib- eral in politics, and in 1867 was elected to the ZoUparlament (customs parliament). He died in 1881. His valuable library is now owned by the Johns Hopkins University of Baltimore. His legal writings include Geschichte des allgemeinen Kechts (1864); Das moderne Kriegesrecht (1866): Das moderne Volkerrecht (1868); and Die Lehrc lom Slant (1875). BLUSHING (AS. biyscan, to glow, biysa, a torch ). A sudden reddening of the face, neck, and breast, owing to some mental shock, most commonly of the character of sliTiess, shame, or modesty. It is produced by an increased flow of blood into the capillary vessels over the parts where the blush extends, resulting from a tem- porary vasomotor paralysis. Besides redden- ing the complexion, it creates a sensible augmen- tation of heat in tho.se parts. The feeling that accompanies a blush is one of distress — of heat and general discomfort. Children rarely blush. Darwin is authority for the statement that peo- ple of races that habitually are nearly naked blush down to the waist. There is a nerve fila- ment, from the sympathetic system, lying within the sheath of and parallel with each artery and capillary, controlling the e-xpansion and contrac- tion of the muscular coat of the vessel. This is called a vasomotor nerve. During the mental stress that accompanies blushing, the action of the vasomotor nerve is suspended and the arteries and capillaries dilate, producing the phenomenon, the heart's action being unaffected. Mental stress of a nature to moderate or control the heart's action is more likely to cause pallor of the sur- face, owing to the decreased amount of blood passing through tlie arteries and the correspond- ingly greater contraction of their coats. Consult Darwin. Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals (London, 1872). BLtJTHGEN, blut'gen, Victor (1844—). A Geniiaii author. He was bom in Ziirbig, near Halle; studied theology at the University of the latter city; assisted in the preparation of a theological dictionary, and was employed for a short time as a journalist. His best-known works are his Gedichte (1881); a number of books for the young, including his text to Flin- zer's Schehnenspiegel (1876) ; Froschmiiusekrieg (1878) ; llesperiden (1879), a volume of tales, which was translated into Danish ; the novelettes Bunte yovellen (2 vols., 1880), Der Friedens- storer (1883), Poiret-house (1884), and Die Stiefschicester (1887); and the novels Aus gd- rendrr Zeit (2 vols., 1884), and Frau Grafin (2 vols., 1892). B'NAI B'RITH, b'nl b'reth. Independent Order of. An organization of Israelites of Ger- Uian extraction, founded in America in 1843. and since extended through Germany and in the East. It somewhat resembles the Masonic organization, without its secrecy and ceremonial. Its object is the moral elevation of its members, who now number some 28,000 in more than 400 lodges. BOA, bo'a (Lat. boa, bora, a large serpent; perhaps akin to bos, ox, owing to its size). Any of the large non-venomous snakes of tropical America of the family Boidse. These are closely related to the pythons: and popularly the name is applied to any large snake that entwines its prey, crushes it, and swallows it whole — a 'boa- constrictor.' These great serpents feed upon liv- ing animals of all sorts, for which they lie in wait, often hanging for hours together from trees. The weight of the body is borne under such conditions partly by the prehensile tail and partly by two opposing hooks on each side of the vent' These hooks are held by muscles at- tached to several bones, all below tlie skin, which are the rudiments of the hind limbs of the higher vertebrates. The boa seizes its prey with a swift dart of the head and forward part of the body, and the numerous long backward-leaning teeth hold the struggling animal until the snake throws one or more folds about it and com- presses it to death. It may also seize an animal by knotting a fold of its tail or some part of its body around it; and thus boas have been seen to capture, crush, and hold two or three victims at once. The swallowing is a slow and laborious process, aided by a copious flow of saliva, which serves both to lubricate and to digest the mass of food. Boas are able to swallow creatures con- siderably larger than their own heads, because the loose and elastic articulation of the jaws (see Snake) enables the mouth to be opened both