BLACKMORE —BLACK was a favourite theme of his, especially in his later years; and before his death he endowed a travelling scholarship to enable students to learn Greek at Athens. Scottish nationality was another source of enthusiasm with him; and in this connexion he displayed real sympathy with Highland home life and the grievances of the crofters. The foundation of the Celtic chair at Edinburgh University was mainly due to his efforts. In spite of the many calls upon his time he produced a considerable amount of literary work, usually on classical or Scottish subjects, including some poems and songs of no mean order. His life to its close was full of activity, and invariably gave the impression of being resolutely happy. He died in Edinburgh on 2nd March 1895. His published works include (besides several volumes of verse) Horce Hellenicoe (1874), The Language and Literature of the Scottish Highlands (1876), Lay Sermons (1881), Altavona (1882), Life of Burns (1888), Scottish Song (1889), Essays on Subjects of Moral and Social Interest (1890), Christianity and the Ideal of Humanity (1893). (u. p. s.) Blackmore, Richard Doddridge (18251900), English novelist, was born 9th June 1825 at Longworth, Berks, of which village his father was rector. He was educated at Blundell’s School, Tiverton, and Exeter College, Oxford, where he obtained a scholarship. In 1847 he was placed in the second class in Literce Humaniores, and took his degree. Two years later he entered as a student at the Middle Temple, and was called to the Bar in 1852. His first publication was a volume of Poems by Melanter, 1854, which showed no particular promise, nor did the succeeding volume Epullia, 1855, suggest that Blackmore had the makings of a poet. He was nevertheless enthusiastically sincere in his desire to follow literature as a profession; and when, a few years later, the complete breakdown of his health rendered it clear that he must remove from London, he determined to combine a literary life in the country with a business career as a market-gardener. He acquired land at Teddington, and set earnestly to work, the literary fruits of his new surroundings being a translation of the Georgies published in 1862. Verse, however, was clearly not his strong point, and when in 1864 he published his first novel, Clara Vaughan, several critics were prompt in recognizing its merit. Cradock Nowell, which followed it in 1865, was also praised; but neither story made much way with the general public. In 1869, however, he suddenly sprang into fame. Lorna Doone, which was published in that year, was a pioneer in the romantic revival; and appearing at a jaded hour, it was presently recognized as a work of singular charm, vigour, and imagination. Its success could scarcely be repeated, and though Blackmore wrote many other capital stories, of which the best known are, The Maid of Sker (1872), Christowell (1880), and Perlycross (1894), he will always be remembered almost exclusively as the author of Lorna Doone. He continued his quiet country life to the last, and died at Teddington, 20th January 1900, in his seventy-fifth year. Lorna Doone has faults of construction and exaggeration, but it is from every point of view a fine and picturesque romance. It has the true out-of-door atmosphere, is shot through and through with adventurous spirit, and in its dramatic moments shows both vigour and intensity. The heroine, though she is invested with qualities of faery which are scarcely human, is an idyllic and haunting figure; and the bluff hero is, both in purpose and achievement, a veritable giant of romance. The story is almost a classic of the West country, and the many pilgrimages that are made annually to the Doone Valley (the actual characteristics of which differ materially from the descriptions given in the
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novel) are entirely inspired by the buoyant imagination of Richard Blackmore. (a. wa.) Blackpool, a municipal borough (1876) and seaside resort in the Blackpool parliamentary division of Lancashire, England, 46 miles 1ST. of Liverpool by rail. The town, which is quite modern, contains many churches and chapels of all denominations, a new town hall, public libraries, the Victoria hospital, three piers, theatres, ballrooms, and other places of public amusement, including a tower 250 feet high and a “big wheel.” New promenades, consisting of higher and lower walks, have recently been completed at a cost of upwards of £100,000, and the old promenade is in course of being widened and extended at an authorized cost of £350,000. When completed it will be 3 miles long. Area of borough, exclusive of foreshore, 3496 acres; including foreshore, 4244 acres. Population (1881), 14,229; (1891), 23,846; (1901), 47,346, or practically double. The return of inhabited houses shows a similar result, the number for 1891 being 4921, and for 1901, 9945. Black Sea, The.—The conditions that prevail in the Black Sea are very different from those of the Mediterranean or any other sea. The existence of sulphuretted hydrogen in great quantities below 100 fathoms, the extensive chemical precipitation of calcium carbonate, the stagnant nature of its deep waters, and the absence of deep-sea life are conditions which make it impossible to discuss it along with the physical and biological conditions of the Mediterranean proper. In outline the Black Sea is kidney-shaped and lies almost entirely between the latitudes 41° and 45° N., extending to about 47° N. near Odessa. It is bounded on the N. by the southern coast of Russia; on the W. by Rumania, Turkey, and Bulgaria; on the S. and E. by Asia Minor. The northern boundary is broken at Kertch by a strait entering into the Sea of Azof, and at the junction of the western and southern boundary is the Bosporus, which unites the Black Sea with the Mediterranean through the Sea of Marmora and the Dardanelles. The 100-fathom line is about 10 to 20 miles from the shore except in the northwest corner between Varna and Sebastopol, where it extends 140 miles seawards. The greatest depth is 1030 fathoms1 near the centre, there being only one basin. The steepest incline outside 100 fathoms is to the southeast of the Crimea and at Amastra; the incline to the greater depths is also steep off the Caucasus and between Trebizond and Batum. The depths of the Black Sea are lifeless, higher oi’ganic life not being known to exist below 100 fathoms. Fossiliferous remains of Dreissena, Cardium, and other molluscs have, however, been dredged up, which help to show that conditions formerly existed in the Black Sea similar to those that exist at the present day in the Caspian Sea. According to Andrusof, when the union of the Black Sea with the Mediterranean through the Bosporus took place, salt water rushed into it along the bottom of the Bosporus and killed the fauna of the less saline waters. This gave rise to a production of sulphuretted hydrogen which is found in the deposits, as well as in the deeper waters. Observations in temperature and salinity have only been taken during summer. During summer the surface salinity of the Black Sea is from 1'70 to 2 •00 per cent, down to 50 fathoms, whereas in the greater depths it attains a salinity of 2-25 per cent. The temperature is rather remarkable, there being an intermediate cold layer between 25 and 50 fathoms. This is due to the sinking of the cold surface water (which in winter reaches freezing-point) on to the top of the denser more saline water of the greater depths. There is thus a minimum circulation in the greater depths causing there uniformity of temperature, an absence of the circulation of oxygen by other means than diffusion, and a protection of the sulphuretted hydrogen from the oxidation which takes place ia homologous situations in the0 open ocean. The temperature down to 25 fathoms is from 78'S to 46-2° F., and in the cold layer, 1
1227 Russian fathoms.
