the publication of his excellent Institutiones Physiologicæ, a condensed, well-arranged view of the animal functions, expounded without discussion of minute anatomical details. This work appeared in 1787, and between its first publication and 1821 went through many editions in Germany, where it was the general text-book of the science. It was translated into English in America by Caldwell in 1798,
and in London by Elliotson in 1807.Blumenbach was perhaps still more extensively known by his admirable Handbuch of comparative anatomy, of which the German editions were numerous, from its appearance in 1805 to 1824. It was translated into English in 1809 by the eminent surgeon Lawrence, and again, with the latest improvements and editions, by Coulson in 1827. This manual of Blumenbach's, though slighter than the subsequent works of Cuvier, Carus, and others, and not to be compared with such recent expositions as that of Gegenbaur, will always be esteemed for the accuracy of the author's own observations, and his just appreciation of the labours of his predecessors.
One of the most extensive of Blumenbach's works was the Decas Collectionis suæ Craniorum Diversarum Gentium illustrate, in which accurate though slight delineations of the skulls in his noble collection are given, with brief descriptions of each. It appeared in fasciculi, until sixty crania were represented, — exhibiting in a striking manner the peculiarities in form of the skulls of different nations, and justifying the division of the human race into several great varieties or families, of which he enumerated five—the Caucasian or white race, the Mongolian or Tatar, the Malayan or brown race, the Negro or black race, and the American or red race. The classification he thus proposed has been very generally received, and most later schemes have been modifications of it. For these see the article Anthropology, vol. ii. p. 113.
Although the greatest part of Blumenbach's long life was passed at Göttingen, in 1789 he found leisure to visit Switzerland, and gave a curious medical topography of that country in his Bibliothek. He was in England in 1788 and 1792. The Prince Regent conferred on him the office of physician to the royal family in Hanover in 1816, and made him knight companion of the Guelphic order in 1821. The Royal Academy of Paris elected him a member in 1831. He died at Göttingen on the 22d of January 1840.
BOA, a name formerly applied to all large Serpents, which, devoid of poison fangs, killed their prey by constriction; but now confined to that section of them occur ring in America, the Old World forms being known as Pythons. The true boas are widely distributed throughout tropical America, occurring most abundantly in Guiana and Brazil, where they are found in dry sandy localities, amid forests, on the banks of rivers and lakes, and in the water itself, according to the habits of the various species. They feed chiefly on the smaller quadrupeds, in search of which they often ascend trees, suspending, themselves from the branches by the tail, and thus awaiting motionless the approach of their victim. While so hanging they are partly supported by two spine-like hooks, situated one on each side of the vent, which are connected with several small bones concealed beneath the skin and attached to the main skeleton. These bones, terminating thus in an external claw, are characteristic of the family Boidce, and are recognized by anatomists as the rudiments of those which form the hind limbs in all quadrupeds. The size of the boa s prey often seems enormously beyond its apparent capacity for swallowing, a difficulty which disappears on acquaintance with the peculiar structure of the creature s jaws. The bones composing these are not knit together as in Mammals, but are merely connected by ligaments, which can be distended at pleasure. The mouth of the boa can thus be made to open transversely as well as vertically; and in addition to this the two jaws are not connected directly as in other animals, but by the intervention of a distinct bone, which adds greatly to the extent of its gape. It has also the power of moving one half of the jaw in dependently of the other, and can thus keep a firm hold of its victim while gradually swallowing it. The boa possesses a double row of solid sharp teeth in the upper jaw, and a single row beneath, all pointing inwards, so that, its prey once caught, it would be weli-nigh impossible even for the boa itself to release it. After feeding, boas, like all other reptiles, become inactive, and remain so while the process of digestion is going on, which, in the case of a full meal, may extend over a few weeks, and during this period they are readily killed. All the species are ovo- viviparous. The Jiboya or Boa constrictor the latter name having been loosely given to all the species—is an in habitant of the dry and sandy districts of tropical America, and rarely exceeds 20 feet in length. Its food consists chiefly of the agoutis, capybaras, and ant-bears, which abound in those districts. It seeks to avoid man, and is not feared by the inhabitants, who kill it readily with a sharp blow from a stick. The Water-Boa or Anaconda (Eunectens murinus) is a much more formidable creature, attaining, it is said, a length of 40 feet, and being thus probably the largest of living serpents. It inhabits the lakes, rivers, and marshes of Brazil and Guiana, and passes a considerable portion of its existence in the water. It is exceedingly voracious, feeding on fishes and on such animals as may come to the banks of the stream to drink, for which it lies in wait with only a small part of its head above the surface of the water. It also occasionally visits the farmyards, carrying off poultry and young cattle, and it has been known to attack man.
BOADICEA, a British queen in the time of the Emperor Nero. She was wife of Prasutagus, king of the Iceni, a people inhabiting the eastern coast of Britain. On his deathbed, 60 A.D., Prasutagus named the emperor heir to his accumulated treasures conjointly with his own two daughters, in expectation of securing thereby Nero's protection for his family and people; but he was no sooner dead than the emperor's officers seized all. Boadicea's opposition to these unjust proceedings was resented with such cruelty, that orders were given that she should be publicly whipped, and her daughters exposed to the brutality of the soldiers. The Britons took up arms, with Boadicea at their head, to shake off the Roman yoke; the colony of Camalodunum or Colchester was taken, and the Romans were massacred wherever they could be found. The whole province of Britain would have been lost to Rome, if Suetonius Paulinus had not hastened from the Isle of Mona, and at the head of 10,000 men engaged the Britons, who are said to have amounted to 230,000. A great battle was fought, which resulted in the complete defeat of the Britons (62 A.D.) Boadicea, who had displayed extraordinary valour, soon after despatched herself by poison. (Tac. Ann. xiv. Agric., 15-16; Dion Cass. lxii.)
Suida?, a family of Pachydermatous Mammals, and gene rally regarded as the original stock of our domestic breeds of swine. In size it is equal to the largest of the domestic kinds, while exceeding them all in strength of body and in ferocity of disposition. It is of a greyish- black colour, covered with short woolly hair, thickly inter spersed with coarse stiff bristles, which assume the form of a mane along the spine. The canine teeth are largely developed, forming two pairs of prism-shaped tusks, which thus become formidable weapons. In old age those tusks
in the lower jaw gradually curve inwards and upwards over
