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BONONCINI BONZES eries of Botta and Layard applied to the Eluci- dation of Holy Writ," with contributions by Lepsius and other Egyptologists (illustrated, London, 1852 ; 3d ed., 1857), and " The Sarcoph- agus of Oimenepthah I. described by Samuel Sharpe " (1864). Mr. Bonomi is curator of Sir John Soane's museum, London. liOOMIM, or Baononcinl, Giovanni Battista, an Italian composer, born at Modena about 1670, died after 1752. He became known at Vienna as a composer of operas, and the royal academy of music invited him to London to compose for the stage. Handel was invited at the same time, and the two became rivals in popular favor, the tories favoring Handel and the whigs Bononcini. The former steadily gained the ascendancy, and Bononcini became a pensioner on the duchess of Marlborough, who had led his admirers. Having palmed off a madrigal as his own which he had merely copied, he was obliged to leave London, and was subse- quently composer for the chapel of the king at Paris. He finally went to Venice, where all trace of him is lost. None of his operas have retained their popularity. BONPLAND, lime, a French traveller and nat- uralist, born at La Rochelle, Aug. 22, 1773, died in Uruguay in May, 1858. He studied medicine, and served as a surgeon in the navy during the French revolution. He afterward pursued scientific studies with Humboldt at Paris, and accompanied that naturalist on his travels in Mexico and South America. They were absent five years, and on their return in 1804 Bonpland presented his collection of plants, numbering 6,000, to the museum of natural history. Napoleon gave him a pension, and the empress placed him in charge of her gardens at Malmaison. While in this position he published descriptions of the plants which he had collected, with illustrations. After the fall of the. emperor he embarked again for South America, landing in Buenos Ayres in 1816 with a large collection of European plants and seeds. He was made professor of natural his- tory in that city, and remained there five years. He then set out to carry on new explorations among the Andes, but was intercepted by Dr. Francia, the dictator of Paraguay, and de- tained for nearly ten years, during which time he was compelled to act as physician to a garrison. On his release in 1831 he retired to a plantation near San Borja on the southern boundary of Brazil, where he married an In- dian woman and devoted himself to cultivating Paraguay tea. In 1853 he removed to a larger estate at Santa Anna, where he raised orange trees. During all this time he made collec- tions of plants and wrote descriptions of them, which he intended to take to the museum at Paris, had he not been prevented by death. His most important contribution to Humboldt's Voyage des regions equinoxiales is Nova Genera et Species Plantarum, edited by 0. S. Kunth (7 vols. fol., 1815-'2o). His biography has been written by Adolphe Brunei (Paris, 1872). BONSTETTEIf, Charles Victor de, a Swiss author, born in Bern, Sept. 3, 1745, died in Geneva, Feb. 3, 1832. Before the revolution he took part in public affairs and interested himself in social and political questions. Afterward he travelled extensively, writing letters, sketches, and books on a variety of subjects, both in French and German. He was acquainted with nearly, all the distinguished persons of his time, and left some unfinished Souvenirs, in which he intended to record his reminiscences of them. His principal works are Eecherches sur la nature et les lois de ^imagination (Geneva, 1807), and Etudes de I'homme (Geneva, 1821). BONVICINO, Alessandro, called II Moretto da Brescia, an Italian painter, born in Brescia early in the 16th century, died about 1560. Being a pupil of Titian and a careful student of the works of Raphael, he succeeded to a remarkable degree in combining the excellences of the two. He painted several historical pic- tures of celebrity, but excelled mainly in por- traits. BONZES, a term applied to the priests of Fo or Buddha in China, Japan, Cochin China, Japanese Bonzes. Burmah, &c. They are divided into various sects, but their teachings are much alike, and they have many customs in common. They profess celibacy, practise austerities of various kinds, and dwell together in monasteries. They always go with the head bare and closely shaven, and wear no beard. They are sup- posed to lead a life of prayer and contempla- tion, and at intervals teach the mass of wor- shippers in their temples. Among their moral teachings are strict honesty, chastity, and tem- perance. In their public devotions they use idols, some of them very hideous, but the real