Seine. His principal work is an "Essai sur l'Homme, considéré dans ses rapports géographiques," published at Paris in 1808, written in opposition to the opinions of Cabanis; it is only the outline of a larger work, upon which Blancheton laboured till the end of his life, but which was never published.—W. S. D.
BLANCHON, Joachim, born at Limoges; the precise periods of his birth and death are not known, but he was living in 1580. A collection of his poems, entitled "Premieres Œuvres Poetiques," was published at Paris in 1583.
BLANCO, Manoel, a Spanish botanist of the present century. He has published a "Flora of the Philippine Islands," which was printed at Manilla in 1837.
BLANDRATA, Giorgio, an Italian physician, celebrated for his frequent changes of religion, was born in the vicinity of Saluzzo, and received his education at Montpellier, where he came in the year 1530, and in 1533 received his degree of doctor. Carried away by the new religious doctrines which were at that time agitating the minds of men, Blandrata successively embraced Lutheranism, Calvinism, Socinianism, and Arianism; indeed he appears to have attached himself, at one time or another, to almost every sect existing in his time. The state of his religious opinions, coupled with the desire of success in his profession, led him to visit Poland, where he became physician to the wife of Sigismund Augustus. On returning to Italy he was seized by the inquisition as a heretic, and thrown into prison at Pavia, but escaped, and sought safety at Geneva. Here, however, his peculiar views were not regarded with favour; Calvin handed him over to the officers of justice as a partisan of Servetus, and he only saved his head by making a public profession of faith perfectly in accordance with the Calvinistic tenets. Calvin himself, however, does not appear to have been satisfied with the sincerity of his convert, for we find that on Blandrata's return to Poland in 1658, the influence of the great Swiss reformer caused him to be deprived of all his dignities; and in 1563 he betook himself to the court of John Sigismund, prince of Transylvania, to whom he was appointed physician, and in this position, and a similar one under the succeeding prince, Stephen Bathori, whom he accompanied to Poland, Blandrata remained until his death. During the earlier part of his residence in Transylvania, Blandrata was zealous in disseminating the unitarian opinions which he had adopted, to which he converted the prince, Johann Sigismund, and for which he obtained complete toleration; but subsequently, as old age and the desire of riches grew upon him, his religious ardour appears to have cooled, and in his later years he is described as favouring the jesuits, who had obtained the countenance of his prince. The date of his death is not known, but he is said to have been strangled in his bed by a nephew, whom he had threatened to disinherit, on account of his attachment to the catholic religion. This motive, however, seems scarcely compatible with the change of opinion experienced by this timeserving sectarian in his old age. Many people attributed his sudden death to a visitation of Providence.—W. S. D.
BLANE, Sir Gilbert, baronet, fellow of the Royal Societies of London, Edinburgh, and Göttingen; of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg; and of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris; physician to the fleet in the West Indies, and North America, during the American war; one of the commissioners of sick and wounded seamen; and physician to their majesties King George IV. and King William IV. A distinguished physician who held high and responsible offices in the medical department of the royal navy, as well as in civil life, and was professionally employed in several important missions during a most eventful period in the history of this country; descended of an ancient Scottish family, was born at Blanefield, Ayrshire, August 29, 1749. After devoting ten years to the study of the various branches of literature and science, as well as of medicine in the university of Edinburgh, and two years in London under the celebrated Hunters, he obtained the degree of M.D. at Glasgow in 1778. On the recommendation of Dr. William Hunter, and of his friend and patron, Robertson the historian, he became shortly afterwards physician and companion to the earl of Holdernesse, a most accomplished nobleman, who, besides having filled several important posts in the state, had been governor to the prince of Wales. On the death of Lord Holdernesse, Dr. Blane embarked as a volunteer in the fleet which left England to relieve Gibraltar at the end of 1779, under the command of Sir George, afterwards Lord Rodney, who appointed him physician to the fleet on his arrival at Gibraltar, immediately after his first victory. The relief of Gibraltar having been effected, the fleet proceeded to the West Indies, and there Dr. Blane was soon afforded ample scope for the exercise of his high professional attainments. During the four years in which he conducted the medical duties of the fleet on that station, he was present in several general engagements with the enemy, including that of April 12, 1782, in which Lord Rodney achieved a signal victory over the French fleet, commanded by the comte de Grasse. The reduction of the naval armament, consequent upon the peace of 1783, rendering a medical officer of Dr. Blane's rank no longer necessary in the West Indies, he returned to England with Sir Francis Drake, who commanded the first division of the fleet sent home. That Dr. Blane zealously and ably carried out his resolution on receiving his appointment to avail himself to the utmost of the advantages which so rich a field of observation presented, is abundantly proved by his well-known work, "On the Diseases of Seamen." In this valuable book, which may be read with advantage at the present day, we find the sickness and mortality of the fleet during four years, clearly and intelligibly stated, and illustrated by regular and methodical tabular forms. Sir John Pringle in the army, Dr. Lind in the navy, and other minds of kindred capacity and vigour, had already recorded the varying proportions of sick in fleets and armies, at different seasons, and in different localities; but Blane may be considered among the very first who systematically applied statistical science to the investigation of medical facts and phenomena. The causes of sickness in fleets in hot climates; the means of prevention, treatment, and cure; and the hygienic views embodied in memorials to the commander-in-chief and to the admiralty, suggesting improvements in the condition of the seamen; are severally treated in an enlightened and philosophical spirit, indicating everywhere a mind capable of anticipating much that was not fully adopted until of late years. To Lord Rodney's honour, be it recorded, he ever took occasion to acknowledge with pride, the great services rendered by the physician to his fleet, and both in writing, and conversation, ascribed part of his success to those medical regulations to which the healthy state of the seamen was owing. It was on the strong recommendation of his lordship, and of the other flag-officers and captains of the fleet, that his majesty granted a pension to Dr. Blane, there being at this time no half-pay allowance to physicians of fleets.
There being no prospect of public employment, Dr. Blane, on his return from the West Indies, became desirous of attaching himself to St. Thomas' hospital, as one of its physicians; and on this, as on former occasions, Lord Rodney bore willing testimony to his great merits. Writing to one of the governors of the hospital, his lordship says:—"The gratitude the nation owes Dr. Blane, for his care, attention, and assiduity in preserving the lives of thousands of the fleet I commanded, prove that care and attention were only wanting, and a physician of great abilities, to make that climate (the West Indies) as healthy as the climate of Europe. Britain owes this proof to Dr. Blane; for to his knowledge and attention it was owing, that the English fleet were, notwithstanding their excessive fatigue and constant service, in condition always to attack and defeat the public enemy." Mainly in consequence of this strong recommendation, from one who, although always just, was never prodigal of praise, Dr. Blane was elected a physician to St. Thomas' hospital—a post which he held until 1795, when he was called by Lord Spencer, then at the head of the admiralty, to fill the appointment of a commissioner of sick and wounded seamen, with a view to introduce some new regulations and improvements into that department of the public service. At the peace of Amiens, a great reduction was made in all naval establishments, and Dr. Blane at this time retired from the board of commissioners. In 1805, in consequence of the services he had rendered to the state, in improving the health of the navy, his majesty was pleased to double his pension.
In the autumn of 1809, Dr. Blane, on the nomination of the cabinet council, was charged with a special mission to Walcheren, in order to ascertain the nature and causes of the great sickness and mortality prevailing in the British army in Zealand. He performed this mission to the entire satisfaction of the commander-in-chief; and his report on the condition of the army concludes in these words:—"What an incalculable saving would there have been of human life, treasure, and the whole material of war, had any of the members of the British government,
