pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
BIZARRE, denoting capricious, a term used among florists for a particular kind of carnation, which has its flowers striped or variegated with three or four colours.
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ßlZERTA, or Beüzekt, a sea-port in the kingaom of Tunis, on a gulf of the same name, which communicates with a lake in the interior. It occupies the site of the ancient Hippo, whose harbour, by means of a spacious pier protecting it from the north-east wind, was rendered one of the safest and finest on this coast. This important work, however, has been entirely neglected by the Turks, whence the port has been choked up, and now receives only small vessels. The place, however, is still about a mile in circuit, defended by several strong castles and batteries. The principal employment of the inhabitants consists in taking fish, which are found in great abundance in. the adjoining lake, particularly mullets, whose roes, dried and formed ιto the substance called botargo, form a considerable article of Mediterranean commerce. It is situated 30 miles ιorth of Tunis. Long. 9. 48. E. Lat∙ 37. 10. N.
BLAARDINGEN, a town in the province of South Holland, in the Netherlands, on one of the branches of the Maas, the chief seat of the herring fishery, with 6700 inhabitants.
BLACKALL, Offspring, bishop of Exeter in the beginning of the eighteenth century, was born at London in the year 1654, and educated at Catharine-Hall, Cambridge. For two years he refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary, but at last submitted to the government, though he seemed to condemn the revolution, and all that had been done in pursuance of it. He was a man of great piety, with much primitive simplicity and integrity, and a constant evenness of mind. In a sermon preached by him before the House of Commons 30th January 1699, he animadverted on Toland’s assertion, in his life of Milton, that Charles I. was not the writer of the Icon Basilike; and also on some insinuations against the authenticity of the Holy Scriptures; which produced a controversy between him and that author. In 1700 he preached in St Paul’s, at Boyle’s lecture, a course of sermons, which were afterwards published; and he was consecrated bishop of Exeter in 1707. He died at Exeter in 1716, and was interred in the cathedral there.
BLACKBURN, a large market-town in the hundred of the same name, in the county of Lancaster, 204 miles from London, on the river Derwent, over which there are four stone bridges. The town has taken its name from the colour of the river. It owes a great portion of its prosperity to the extension of canals, which give a facility of intercourse with all the northern and middle parts of the kingdom. The rapid increase of the cotton trade has produced the greatest local effect in Blackburn, in the increase of houses and inhabitants, and in the ornaments and conveniences of the place. The parish of Blackburn contains fifteen townships and eight chapelries, and in 1821 numbered 53,350 inhabitants. The population of the town of Blackburn has increased considerably, amounting in 1801 h> H,980, in 1811 to 15,083, and in 1821 to 21,940.
BLACKING is a term generally used to signify a factitious black, as lamp-black, shoe-black, and the like. A mixture of ivory or lamp-black with linseed-oil makes the common oil blacking. For a shining blacking, small-beer or water is used instead of oil, in the proportion of about a pint to an ounce of the ivory-black, with the addition of half an ounce of brown sugar, and as much gum-arabic. The white of an egg substituted for the gum makes the black more shining, but is supposed to hurt the leather, and make it apt to crack. Another kind of blacking is prepared by mixing, in certain proportions, ivory-black, sour beer or porter, Florence oil, molasses, and a small quantity of the sulphate of iron; which ingredients, when properly apportioned, form as good and safe an article as need be desired.
BLACKMORE, Sir Richard, a physician, and voluminous writer of theological, poetical, and physical works. Having early declared in favour of the Revolution, King William, in 1697, chose him one of his physicians in ordinary, and conferred on him the honour of knighthood. On Queen Anne’s accession, Sir Richard was also appointed one of her physicians, and continued so for some time. But Dryden and Pope treated the poetical performances of Blackmore with great contempt; and in a note to the mention made of him in the Dunciad, we are informed that his “indefatigable muse produced no less than six epic poems: Prince and King Arthur, in twenty books; Eliza, in ten; Alfred, in twelve; The Redeemer, 1 φ s * x ’ besides Job, in folio; the whole book of Psalms; The Creation, in seven books; the Nature of Man, in three books; and many more.” But notwithstanding that Blackmore was greatly ridiculed by the wits, he is not without merit; and Addison, in the Spectator, has bestowed some liberal commendations on his poem on the Creation. It must be mentioned, too, in honour of Sir -Richard, that he was a chaste writer, and a warm advocate for virtue, at a time when an almost universal degeneracy prevailed. He had been very free in his censures 0 the libertine writers of his age; and it was owing to some liberty he had taken of this kind, that he drew upon himself the resentment of Mr Dryden. He had likewise given offence to Mr Pope; for having been informed by Mr Curl that the “bard of Twickenham” was the author of a travestie of the first Psalm, he took occasion to reprehend him for it in his Essay on Polite Learning. Besides the works above mentioned, Sir Richard wrote some theological tracts, and several treatises on the plague, small-pox, consumptions, the spleen, gout, dropsy, and a variety of small poetical pieces. He died on the 9th of October 1729.
BLACKNESS, the quality of a black body, or a colour arising from such a texture and situation of the superficial parts of a body as deadens or rather absorbs the light falling upon it, without reflecting any, or very little of it, to the eye. In this sense blackness stands directly opposed to whiteness, which consists in such a texture of parts as indifferently reflects all the rays thrown upon it, of whatever colour they may be. Descartes, says Dr Priestley, though mistaken with respect to the nature of light and colours, yet distinguishes justly between black and white; observing, that black suffocates and extinguishes the light that falls upon it, but that white reflects it.
BLACKWALL, Anthony, A.Μ. a learned author,who, after completing his academical education at Emanuel College, Cambridge, was appointed head-master of the free school at Derby, and lecturer of All-Hallows there. He first distinguished himself in the literary world by an edition of Theognis, printed at London in 1706, and was afterwards chosen head-master of the free school at Market-Bosworth in Leicestershire. The grammar, by means of which he initiated the youth under his care into Latin, was of his own composition, and so happily fitted for the purpose, that he was prevailed on to make it public, although his modesty would not permit him to prefix his name to it, because he would not be thought to prescribe to other instructors of youth. It is entitled A New Lahn Grammar; being a short, clear, and easy Introduction ο; Young Scholars to the Knowledge of the· Lahn Tongue; containing an exact Account of the two first Parts of Grammar. In his Introduction to the Classics, first publisher in 1718, he displayed, with equal conciseness and perspicuity?
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the beauties of the great writers of antiquity, to the understanding and imitation even of common capacities. But his most celebrated work was, The Sacred Classics defended and illustrated; or, An Essay humbly offered towards preserving the Purity, Propriety, and True Eloquence of the Writers of the New Testament, in two vols. Mr Blackwall had the happiness to educate many excellent scholars in his seminaries at Derby and Bosworth; and amongst others the celebrated Richard Dawes, author of the Miscellanea Critica. A gentleman who had been his scholar, being patron of the church of Clapham in Surrey, presented him to that living as a mark of his gratitude and esteem. This happening late in life, and Blackwall having occasion to wait upon the bishop of the diocese, he was somewhat pertly questioned by a young chaplain as to the extent of his learning. “Boy,” replied the indignant veteran, “I have forgot more than ever you knew.” He died at Market-Bosworth, on the 8th of April 1730.
BLADE, in commerce, a thin slender piece of metal, either forged by the hammer, or run and cast in moulds, to be afterwards sharpened to a point, edge, or the like. Sword-blades are made by armourers, while knife-blades are fabricated by cutlers. The English and Damascus blades are most esteemed; among the French, those of Vienne in Dauphine obtain a preference. The conditions of a good blade of a small sword are, that it be light, tough, and apter to bend than break. When it stands in the bend, it is called “a poor man’s blade.”
BLADEN, Martin, a translator and dramatic author, was originally an officer in the army, and bore the commission of lieutenant-colonel in Queen Anne’s reign, under John duke of Marlborough, to whom he dedicated a translation of Caesar’s Commentaries. In 1714 he was made one of the lords commissioners of trade and plantations; and in 1717 he was named envoy extraordinary to the court of Spain, but declined the appointment, rather choosing to keep the post he already had, which was worth L.1000 a year, and which he never parted with till his death, in May 1746. He was also many years member of parliament for the town of Portsmouth. He wrote [7:4:668] two dramatic pieces, both of which were printed in the year 1705, without the author’s consent. The names of these are, 1. Orpheus and Eurydice, a masque; 2. Solon, a tragi-comedy.
BLADUM, in writers of the middle ages, is a name applied to all sorts of standing corn in the blade and ear. The word is also written blatum, Dlava, and blavium. In old charters the word bladum included the whole product of the ground, as fruit, corn, flax, grass; and it was sometimes also applied to all sorts of grain or corn threshed on the floor. But the word was more particularly appropriated to bread-corn, or wheat, called in French ble. Thus the knights templars are said to have granted to Sir Wido de Meriton’s wife duas summas bladi.
BLAEU, William, a famous printer of Amsterdam, as well as a disciple and friend of Tycho Brahe. His Atlas, his Treatises of the Globes, Astronomical Institutions, and other works, together with his fine impressions, have secured his name from oblivion. He died in 1638.
BLAGRAVE, John, the second son of John Blagrave of Bulmarsh-court, near Sunning in Berkshire, was descended of an ancient family in that county. From a grammar-school at Reading he was sent to St John’s College, Oxford, where he applied himself chiefly to the study of mathematics; and without taking any degree, afterwards retired to his patrimonial seat of Southcolelodge, near Reading, where he spent the remainder of his life. In this mansion he died in the year 1611, and was buried in the church of St Lawrence, where a monument was erected to his memory. He is said to have been not more remarkable for his mathematical knowledge than for his candour and generosity to his acquaintance. His works are, 1. A Mathematical Jewel, Lond. 1585, folio; 2. Of the Making and Use of the Familiar Staff, Lond. 1590, 4to; 3. Astrolabium Uranicum Generale, Lond. 1596, 4to; 4. The Art of Dialling, Lond. 1609, 4to.
BLAIN, among farriers, a distemper incident to beasts, being a sort of bladder growing on the root of the tongue against the windpipe, and swelling to such a degree as to stop the breath. It comes by great chafing and heating of the stomach, and its diagnostics are, the animal gaping, holding out his tongue, and foaming at the mouth. To cure it, the bladder must be slit and washed gently with vinegar and a little salt.
BLAIR-ATHOLE, or Blair in Athole, a village and parish in the county of Perth and district of A thole. containing a population of about 3000, and distant eighteen miles from Dunkeld, thirty-three from Perth, and seventy-six from Edinburgh. The village has almost completely decayed out; but the parish is nevertheless remarkable for its interesting localities, striking scenery, and mineral products, particularly marble, which is found in considerable abundance, and of almost every variety of colour, though somewhat coarsely grained, in the valley of the Tilt. One of the most conspicuous objects to the eye of the tourist is Blair Castle, a seat belonging to the Duke of Atholl, and formerly a baronial fortress, though now despoiled of its battlements and other castellated honours. It was occupied by the Marquis of Montrose in 1644; stormed by a party under the command of one of Cromwell’s officers in 1653; and gallantly defended by Sir Andrew Agnew, in 1746, when besieged by a portion of the Highland army, until he was relieved by the Hessians under the Earl of Crawford. The falls of Bruar, celebrated by Burns, are two miles to the westward,—and the pass of Killickrankie, famous for the battle which was there fought in 1689, between the Highlanders under Viscount Dundee, and King William’s troops under General Mackay, is about an equal distance to the eastward, of Blair Castle. The old church of Blair, now in ruins, is said to contain the ashes of Dundee, who fell early in the action, and for whose memory the few lingering remnants of the ancient race of Highlanders still cherish a sort of traditional veneration; for the “bloody Clavers” of the southern and western counties appeared in a totally different light to the men who shared his loyalty, and willingly drew their swords in the cause around the expiring effort of which he shed the momentary and meteoric brilliancy of a bootless victory.
BLAISE, a military order instituted by the kings of Armenia, in honour of St Blaise, anciently bishop of Sebasta in that country, the patron saint of that nation. Justinian calls them knights of St Blaise and St Mary, and places them not only in Armenia, but in Palestine. They made a particular vow to defend the religion of the church of Rome, and followed the rule of St Basil. The precise year of the institution of the knights of St Blaise is not known; but they appear to have commenced about the same time with the knights-templars and hospitallers, to the former of which they bore a near affinity.
BLANC, Mont, a stupendous mountain in Savoy. See Alps.
BLANCARDS, a name given to certain linen cloths, so called from the thread used in weaving them being half blanched or bleached before it is used.

BLANCHE-Ferme, or Blank farm, means a farm, the rent of which is paid in silver, not in cattle. In ancient times the crown rents were often reserved to be paid in libris albis, called blanch firmes; in which case the buyer was holden dealbare firmam, that is, his base money, or coin below the standard, was melted down in the exchequer, and reduced to the fineness of standard silver, or, instead of this, he paid the king twelve pence in the pound by way of addition.

Blanch- Holding, in Law, ĵs a tenure by which the vassal is only bound to pay an elusory yearly duty to his superior merely as an acknowledgment of his right.
BLANCHARD, James, a painter. He was born at Paris, and learnt the rudiments of his profession under Nicholas Bolleri, his uncle; but left him at twenty years of age, and travelled into Italy. He staid two years at Rome, and thence proceeded to Venice, where he was so charmed with the works of Titian, Tintoret, and Paul Veronese, that he resolved to follow their manner; and in this he succeeded so well, that at his return to Paris he soon became generally esteemed. He painted two galleries at Paris, one belonging to Pérault, the first president, and the other to Bullion, superintendent of the finances; but his best piece is a picture of the descent of the Holy Ghost, in the church of Nôtre Dame. He was seized, in the flower of his age, with a fever and impos-thume in the lungs, and died in 1683.
BLANCHING, the art or method of making any thing white. Sec Bleaching. Blanching, in coinage, the operation performed on the planchets, or pieces of silver, to give them the requisite lustre and brightness.

Blanching, among gardeners, an operation by which certain salads and roots are rendered whiter than they would otherwise be. See Horticulture.
BLANCO, the name of a cape on the western coast of Africa, in a barren and dreary region, near the southern termination of the Great Desert. It forms the boundary of the bay of Arguin; and, with the exception of Cape Verd, it forms the most westerly point of the continent. The Portuguese discovered it in 1441; but the approach is not unattended with danger. It is in lat. 20. 47. N. There is another cape of the same name, near Mazagan, on the western coast of Morocco; lat. 33. 10. N. Also another in the territory of Tunis, not far from Bizesta; lat. 37. 15. N.
BLANDFORD, a market and borough town in the hundred of Pimperne and county of Dorset, 103 miles from London. It is a clean well-built place, on the river Stour, overlooking which, at the end of the town, îs the fine seat and ornamented grounds of Mr Portman. This town has frequently been destroyed by fire, but has always risen with increased beauty. The principal employment is that of making shirt-buttons, which, though a minute article, yet, being all fabricated within a narrow circle, has been the source of prosperity to the place. There is a well-supplied market on Saturday. Though a borough, it now returns no member to parliament. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 2328, in 1811 to 2425, and in 1821 to 2643.
BLANES, a city of the province of Catalonia in Spain, at the mouth of the river Tordera, defended by a castle’ It contains 3800 inhabitants, employed in the fisheries and navigation. Long. 2. 18. E. Lat. 4L 42. N.
BLANK, or Blanc, in a general sense, signifies white-and Blancus, or Blanca, is used to denote a kind of white or silver money, of base alloy, coined by Henry V. in those parts of France which were then subject to England and valued at 8d. sterling.

Blank also denotes a small copper coin, formerly current in France, at the rate of five derniers Tournois.

Blank- Verse, in modern poetry, is a species of verse composed of a certain number of syllables, generally ten, and possessing rhythm, but without the assistance of rhyme.
BLANKENBURG, a principality forming part of the duchy of Brunswick, extending over 140 square miles, comprehending a part of the Hartz Forest, and containing 14,400 inhabitants. The chief city, which bears the same name, is at the foot of the Blankenstein mountain, on whose top, 1130 feet above the city, is situated the summer palace of Louisenburg, with its pavilions and preserves for game, from which is an enchanting prospect over a most romantic district. The city contains about 3000 inhabitants, who are occupied in various branches of trade. Long. 10. 52. E. Lat 51. 47. N.
BLANKET, in Commerce, a warm woollen stuff, light and loosely woven, chiefly used in bedding.

Tossing in a Blanket, a ludicrous kind of punishment, of which mention is made by the ancients under the denomination sagatio. Martial describes it graphically enough: 7Z√.s∙ ab excussa, missus ad astra, sago. A later writer represents it as one of Otho’s imperial delights; but it is to be observed that the emperor’s diversion, as described by Suetonius, consisted in his being the agent in, not the subject of, this amusement; for his practice seems to have been to stroll out in dark nights, and where he met with a helpless or drunken man, to give him the discipline of the blanket. Every body recollects Sancho Panza’s misfortune in this way, and the sorrowful sport it proved to the worthy squire of the knight of La Mancha.
BLANKOF, John Teunisz, a painter, was born at Alkmaer in 1628, and received his earliest instruction from Arent Tierling; but afterwards was successively the disciple of Peter Scheyenburg and Caesar Van Everdingen. When he had spent some years with these masters, he went to Rome, where he occupied himself in copying the works of the best masters, and was admitted into the society of Flemish painters called Bentvogels, who gave him the name of Jan Maat, or John the Mate, by which he is most generally known. His subjects were landscapes, with views of rivers, sea-shores, havens, or ports, which he executed with a light and free pencil. His best performance is a view of the sea-shore, with the waves retiring at ebb tide; and it is described by Houbraken as being wonderfully beautiful and natural. He died in 1670.
BLASE, a bishop of Sebasta in Cappadocia in the second and third centuries, who suffered death by decapitation under Diocletian, after undergoing flagellation, and having his flesh torn off with iron combs. He is a person of great note among the vulgar, who, in their processions connected with the woollen trade, generally carry a representation of him as the inventor or patron of the artoι wool combing, though that art must have been known long before his time. This popular observance probably had its origin in the circumstance of the saint having been tortured by instruments resembling those used in combing wool.
BLAST, flatus, in the military art, a sudden compression of the air, caused by the discharge of the bullet out of a great gun.

Blast is also applied in a more general sense to any forcible stream of wind or air, produced by the mouth, bellows, or the air.
BLAUBEUERN, a bailiwick in the circle of the Danube and kingdom of Wirtemburg, extending over 132 square miles, and comprehending one city, of the same name, with 1860 inhabitants, one market-town, and fifty-six villages, with a population of 15,646 persons. The climate is cold, and the soil rather unproductive.
BLAYE, an arrondissement in the department of the Gironde, in France, extending over 732 square miles, and comprehending four cantons and thirty-seven communes, with a population of 31,794 persons. The chief place is Lesparre.
BLAZONING, or Blazonry, in Heraldry, the decyphering the arms of noble families. The word originally signified the blowing or winding of a horn, and was introduced into heraldry as a term denoting the description of things borne in arms, with their proper significations and intendments, from an ancient custom observed by the heralds, who were the judges, of winding a horn at jousts and tournaments, when they explained and recorded the achievements of knights.
BLEEDING. See Surgery. Bleeding of a Corpse, a phenomenon superstitiously believed to have been occasionally exhibited by the bodies of persons murdered, which, on the touch, or even the approach of the murderer, began, it was said, to bleed at the nose, ears, and other parts. This circumstance was formerly admitted in England and other parts as a sort of detection of the criminal, and proof of the fact.
BLEKEDE, a bailiwick in the province of Luneburg and kingdom of Hanover, taking the name from its capital, a town of 1510 inhabitants on the river Elbe. It extends over 76,420 acres, and contains two towns, 54 villages, with 7460 inhabitants, mostly agriculturists.
BLEMYES, orBLEMMYES,afabulous people of Ethiopia, said to have had no heads, their eyes and rpouths having been situated in their breasts.
BLENCH or Blanch. See Blanch.