B L E
B L I
7% p. ii. h Vid. Phil. Tranf. N" 48. p. 963. ' Id. N° 68. p. 2067, feq. k Id. N° 58. p. 1 199, feq. ' Hales. Vegct. Stat, c. 3. Phil. Tranf. N° 398. p. 274. ni Ray, Phil. Lett. p. 205. n Hcugbt. Colled. T. 2. p. 337- N r 324. ° Mem. Acad. Scienc. an. 1705. p. 437. and p.
4"I2.] See Birch, &c. BLEMMYES {Cycl.)- Some hold the origin of the fable of the blemmyes to have arifen from this, that the people of that part hid, in fome meafure, their heads between their {boulders, by twilling thefe up to an immoderate height ; fo that wearing withal Jong hair, their heads and necks did not appear : fome- thing like which lias been obferved by modern travellers. Vid. Borell. Obferv. Medic. Phyf. cent. 3. obf. 3. Aldrovand. ap. Schott. Phyf. Cur. 1. 3. c. 11. & c. 9. §. 1. Banian. Hire. Orb. Ter. P. 1. c. 9. fe£t. 2. §. tar. p. 36.?. BLENCH, a fort of tenure of land; as to hold land in blench is by payment of a fugar-loaf, a couple of capons, a beaver-hat, iSc. it the fame be demanded in the name of blench? i. e. no- mine alba firma:. Blount. BLEND~/wta/ iron? a coarfe fort of iron from Staffordfhire mines, ufed for making nails and heavy ware ; in fome places alfo for horfe-fhoes. Plott? Nat. Hill. Staffordfh. c. 4. §.21. Hcugbt. Collect. T. 2. N° 271. p. 221. BLENn-waier? a diftemper incident to black cattle, and comes feveral ways, 1. From blood. 2. From the yellows, which is a ringleader of all difeafes. And, 3. From change of ground ; for being hard, it is apt to breed this evil, which, if not reme- died in fix days, will be pari help. Diet. Ruft. T. 1. invoc. BLENDE, in natural hiflory, a name given to a fubflance, re- sembling, in fome degree, the ores of lead ; but containing very little of that metal, and fometimes none at all : it is there- fore called by fome mock lead. It is ufually found about the mines of lead, and has commonly fpars and cryllals about it. BLENNIUS, in the Linnaean fyftem of zoology, the name of a genus of fifties of the general order of the acanthopterygii. The characters of this genus are, that the membrane of the gills has fix bones ; the fore-part of the head is very flanting ; and the belly fins have two bones. Of this genus are the blennus? alau- da, &c. Linn. Syft. Nat. p. 54. Blennius, in the Artedian fyftem of ichthyology, the name of a genus of fifties ; the characters of which are thefe : it is of the acanthopterygious kind ; and the branchioflege mem- brane on each fide contains fix diftinct and eafily perceived bones : the head is compreffed, and in many fpecies obtufe at the end, or very declivious from the eyes to the mouth : the body alfo is comprefled, and ufually variegated with feveral co- lours: the jaws are covered with large lips: there is only one im on the back, and that generally reaches from the head to the tail, or nearly fo : this fometimes has little bones, in fome fpecies prickly, in others not fo, and fometimes one or two flnnula? or appendages, in the forehead near the eyes : the belly fins Hand very forward ; and the eyes are covered with a fkin : the belly fins never have any more than two ribs. Thefe are the true and diftindtive characters of the blennius ; and the ge- nuine fpecies of this genus are thefe : 1. The blennius? with a furrow between the eyes, and a large fpot in the back fin. This is the common blennius of authors. 2. The blennius? with two fmall pinnulx at the eyes, and with twenty-three bones in the pinna am. This is the fifli called by Willughby and others gottorugine. 3. The blennius? with the upper jaw longer than the under, and with the head acuminated at the top. This is the ftfli called alauda nan crijlata by authors; and the mulgmno and bull-card by the people of Cornwall. 4. The blennius? with a -cuticular creft running tranfverfely over the head. This is the alauda crijlata of authors. The crefl is a triangular lobe of fkin, red at the edges. It is fituated between the eyes. 5. The blennius, with about ten black foots, and a white limb, on each fide of the back fin. This is the guncl- lus comubienjium? or, as fome call it, the butter-jijl)? or liparis Artedi? Gen. Pifc p. 22.
The name is of Greek origin, and is derived from the word $j<tv»», which fignifies a tough and mucous matter, fuch as the body of this fim is covered with. BLENNUS, in zoology, a very remarkable fifh, called in Eng- lifh the buttcrfiy-fijh. It is very thick at the head, and grows gradually fmaller towards the tail. Its moft ufual fize is about iix inches in length, and oftener lefs than more than that. Its colour is a pale-blueifh, variegated with olive-coloured or dufky greenifh lines. The eyes are very large, and their iris red or Ciffron-coloured. They are placed in the top of the head, and very near one another, with a furrow between them, and over each a fmall fin. The mouth is fmall; but capable of great extenfion : the foreteeth long, and placed regularly, refemblino- the dei.fes inciforcs of quadrupeds, with two other longer and crooked behind them, like the canini. It has a tranverfe fkin in .the middle of the palate, to keep the food from returning out of the -mouth. It has one long back fin reaching from near the head to the tail. This is much broader near the head than elfewhere ; and has, near its fifth ray or nerve, a beau- tiful fpot, refcmbling an eye, black in the middle, and fur- rounded with a white circle. It is from this fpot, fo like thofe in the wings of fome butterflies, that it got its Englifh name ; and by this it is zjafily known from all other fifties. It has no fcales ; but lias a dotted line running down its fides, and a large
and prominent belly. It is common in the Mediterranean, and is fold in Venice and elfewhere for the faber. The flefh is very foft. IFillughby? Hift. Pifc. p. 132. Aldrovand. de Pifc. 1. 2. c. 26. See Tab. of fiih.es, N° 16. Bellonius feems to have defcribed a different fifh under this name, mentioning it as covered with Ioofe fcales, and with extremely minute teeth. But Salvian, Aldrovand, Ray, €?V. all underftand this fifh alone by this name.
Blennus, in ichthyology, is alfo a name given by fome authors, particularlySchonfeldt, to the fyngnathus corpore hexagons? cauda pinnaia ; the acus of Ariflotle ; and acus fecunda of other wri- ters ; called alfo by Gefner and Bellonius typble ?narina.
Blennus, in zoology, a name ufed alfo by fome for the tobac- copipe-fifh. Sehonf, Ichth. p. 1 1.
BLESENSIS bolus? bole of Bids? m the materia medica, a very valuable medicinal earth dug about Saumur, Blois, and Bour- goyne in France, and feeming to poflefs all the virtues of the Armenian bole of Galen, which it alfo much refembles in ex- ternal appearance. It is an extremely pure and fine earth, of a regular and compact texture, yet very light ; and in colour of an extremely pale yellow, with fome faint blufh of redifh- nefs. It is naturally of a fmooth furface, crumbles to pieces eafily between the fingers, and does not ftain the hands ; and melts freely in the mouth, leaving no fenfation of hard par- ticles between the teeth. It ferments violently with acid men- ftruums, and does not burn to a rednefs, as the common yellow earths do. Hill? Hift. of Foff. p. 7.
It is a very valuable medicine in fluxes and many other cafes, and might be had in any quantities, at a fmall price ; but fuch is the prefeut unhappy ftate of medicine, that the druggifls content themfelves with the moft wretched counterfeits in the place of drugs even fo cheap as thefe, while there can be had any thing cheaper. Many of our phyficians prefcribe this bole; but it is not kept in the /hops. The common red French bole is generally fold in its place, and that too often counterfeited, or, inftead of it, the fubflance we call bole Armenic, which is no other than a mixture of tobaccopipe-clay and red ochre.
BLESTRISMUS, 0?tf!rfWf<^-, in the antient phyfic, a continual tofling and inquietude of the body, occafioned by a tumultuary efiervefcence of the blood, efpecially in acute fevers. Cajf. Lex, Med. p. 107.
BLE FA alba? an epithet given by fome to the milky urine void- ed in fome diforders of the kidneys, ranked by Paracelfus among the caufes of the phthifis. Paracelf. de Tartar. 1. 2. tract. 3. c. 3. Caji. Lex. Med. p. 107.
BLETUS, 0fetif6*, in the antient phyfic, a perfon whole fide, by reafon of fome internal inflammation, as a pleurify or peri- pneumony, turns black or livid fpotted, chiefly presently after death. Cajl. Lex. Med. p. 107.
BLEW-CAP, an Englifh name for a peculiar fpecies of fifh of the falmon-kind, diftinguifhed by a broad blue fpot on the head, from whence they have their name. Thefe feem not to breed with us ; but appear in our rivers only at certain fea- fons, when there have been very violent north winds. This fifh is feldom found fingle ; fo that the fifliermen rejoice at the taking one of them, expecting a large fhoal of them near. Willughb? Hift. Pifc. p. 193.
BLEYME, in farriery, an inflammation in a horfe's hoof, oc- cafioned by blood putrified in the inner part of the coffin to- wards the heel, between the fole and the coffin-bone. Some write the word corruptly bleyne a . It is originally French, blehne? which fignifies the fame b . — [ a Guill. Gent. Diet. P. 1. in voc, bleyne. b Trev. Diet. Univ. T. 1. p. 107Z. invoc. bleime.]
There are three forts of bleymes ; the firft bred in fpoiled wrin- kled feet with narrow heels, are ufually feated in the inward or weakeft quarter: the fecond, befides the ufual fymptoms of the firft, infects the griftle, and muft be extirpated, as in the cure of a quitter-bone : the third is occafioned by fmall Hones and gravel between the fhoe and the fole. — For a cure, they pare the foot, let out the matter, if any, and drefs the fore, like the prick of a nail. Diet. Ruft. T. 1 . in voc.
BLICEA, in zoology, the name of a fmall fifh of the harengi- form kind, caught in the German and other feas, and fiippo- fed by many to be the fame with what in England we call the fprat, which to fome feems to be no other than a youn» herring. Willughby? Hift. Pifc. p. 228.
Blicea, in zoology, is likewife the name of a frefli-water fifh of the malacoftomous, or, as we call it in Englifh, the leather- mouthed kind, feeming to be the fame with the more common kind of carcaffius. Willughby? Hift. Pi f. p. 250.
Blicea marina? in zoology, the name of an Eaft Indian fifh, which might be more properly called harengus minor Indicia? or the fmall Indian herring. It is of the fhape of the herring ; but fomewhat broader and thinner, and is of the fame colour. Its tail alfo is forked ; but its head is of an odd figure, its eyes and the end of its fnout being extremely large. This fifh fwims ufually in vaft ftioals, and is caught principally on the coaft of Malabar. It is a well-tafted fifti ; but has not at all the tafte of theherring. It takes fait, which fcarce any other of the Eaft Indian fifh will do, and is therefore very much va- lued, and fent into all the neighbouring parts of the country in pickle. There is alfo another very confiderable ufe it is put to 6 by
