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BOROUGH BORROMEAN ISLANDS 107 gaseous terchloride of boron. No acid or mix- ture of acids has any action upon the crystal- line boron. The atomic weight of boron is 10'9. The hardness of boron has suggested its use as a substitute for the diamond in cut- ting glass, for drills, and bearings of machinery ; but the cost of production has hitherto pre- vented its extensive application. BOROUGH. The origin of this term is un- certain. By some etymologists it is derived from burgh (Sax.), burgus (Lat.), a walled town, and thence applied to any association of families in a neighborhood, for the purpose of mutual protection. By others it is deduced from borgh or borhce (Sax.), pledge, referring to the civil division into tithings or decenna- ries, hundreds, &c., in which the inhabitants composing the tithing or hundred were pledges for the good conduct of each other. It is probable that in an early period, when great disorder prevailed, protection was the princi- pal object of the vicinage of houses which was denominated a borough. The term villa, from which is derived the modern village, originally signified a private country residence, but was afterward applied to a number of buildings placed near each other for the common safety of the inhabitants. It appears from "Domes- day Book" that there were 82 boroughs in England, including cities, at the time of the Norman conquest. Though differing as to the extent of their franchises and mode of govern- ment, they were alike in two respects : 1, in having a fair or market; 2, in having a bor- ough court independent of the hundred. A third particular afterward became the distinc- tive franchise of boroughs, viz., the right of sending burgesses to parliament. The original object of mutual defence was merged in an- other, viz., privileges of trade; and not long after the conquest the guild, which was an as- sociation of persons in a particular trade, be- came so intermingled with the original consti- tution of boroughs that it is difficult to distin- guish the respective franchises belonging to each, and the guild merchant, which was a kind of incorporation or licensed association of all the trades, became substantially the bor- ough, or at least became possessed of its fran- chises, government, and name. Membership of the guild thus became the principal mode of obtaining the freedom of the borough. The number of burgesses was by no means coexten- sive with that of the inhabitants ; in fact, the boroughs were generally oligarchies, especially those which were created by charters after the conquest. The government was in many instances engrossed by a body self-constituted as the guild merchant, and in some cases even by a particular guild. Borough franchises were derived from charter or prescription (which was founded upon a supposed charter), and consisted at first of particular privileges, as that of a fair or market, of having a court, exemption from toll, and the like. Charters of incorporation were first granted in the reign of Henry VI., although the ancient boroughs had in fact used the privileges peculiar to cor- porations, viz., of governing themselves, and of holding property in common. But from the period above mentioned, the history of bo- roughs belongs to the subject of municipal cor- porations, with the exception of parliamentary franchise. Before the act of 1832, known as the act for parliamentary reform, there were 171 boroughs in England, represented by 339 bur- gesses ; from Scotland there were 15 members for boroughs, and from Ireland 36. By that act 56 English boroughs which had become in- significant in population were wholly disfran- chised, 30 were deprived of one member each, and the right was given to 22 boroughs, which were before unrepresented, of returning two members each, and to 19 boroughs of return- ing one member each. The right of voting was also extended from a small privileged class to the citizens at large having certain qualifications. By the reform act of 1867 11 more boroughs were disfranchised; 23 were deprived of one member each, and 25 members were given to new boroughs and universities. Previous to the act last mentioned the whole number of representatives from boroughs in the English parliament was 337 from England and Wales, 23 from Scotland, and 39 from Ire- land ; but by that act 28 of this number were distributed among the larger counties, which were divided into districts for the purpose. In the whole kingdom the number of members for boroughs is now 366. In the United States the term borough is applied to an in- corporated village or town, but not to a city. In England it includes cities as well as villages, though in some old statutes the terms city, borough, and village are used distinctively. BOBOVITCHI, a town of Russia, in the gov- ernment of Novgorod, on the Msta, 155 m. S. E. of St. Petersburg ; pop. in 1867, 9,108. It has nine churches, two schools of a high grade, and several manufactories. BOROVSK, a town of European Russia, in the government and 50 m. N. of the city of Ka- luga, on the Protva; pop. in 1867, 8,826. It contains many churches, and near the town is one of the richest convents of the empire. There are extensive manufactories of sail cloth and of woollen goods, and there is an active trade in these articles, as well as in flax, hemp, and leather. BORROMEAN ISLANDS, a group of four small islands in the gulf of Tosa, an arm of Lago Maggiore, in northern Italy. The group takes its name from the Borromeo family, in whose possession it has been for more than 600 years. The separate islands are called Isola Madre, Isola Bella, Isola dei Piscatori, and Jsolino. They were little more than barren rocks prior to 1671, when Vitaliano, Count Borromeo, caused soil to be transported from the shores of the lake, terraces to be made, and all the trees and flowers to be planted which would grow in that climate. Isola Bella was most