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Blood.

but to a moderate ufe of it here no fuch objection takes place.

In fome countries we are told, that the barbarians were accustomed to intoxicate themselves by drinking the warm blood of animals; and as it has been shown that this fluid is the immediate refervoir of the vital principle, it feems by no means improbable that it may be poffeffed of an inebriating quality. Some expreffions in Scripture feem to countenance this hypothefis.

Religious ufes of BLOOD. Among the ancients blood was used for the fealing and ratifying covenants and alliances, which was done by the contracting parties drinking a little of each others blood; and for appeafing the manes of the dead, in order to which blood was offered on their tombs as part of the funeral cere

mony.

The blood of victims was anciently the portion of the gods; and accordingly was poured or sprinkled on the altars in oblation to them.

The priests made another ufe of blood, viz. for divination: the ftreaming of blood from the earth, fire, and the like, was held a prodigy or omen of evil.

The Roman priests were not unacquainted with the ufe of blood in miracles: they had their fluxes of blood from images, ready to ferve a turn; witnefs that faid to have streamed from the flatue of Minerva at Modena, before the battle at that place. But we know not whether in this their fucceffors have not gone beyond them. How many relations in ecclefiaftical writers of Madonas, crucifixes, and wafers, bleeding? At leaft the liquefaction of the blood of St Januarius at Naples, repeated annually for fo many ages, feems to tranfcend by far all the frauds of the Grecian or Roman prieft. hood. But the chemifts at laft got into the fecret; and we find M. Neumann at Berlin to have performed the miracle of the liquefaction of dried blood, with all the circumftances of the Neapolitan experiment.

Among the schoolmen we find a famous difpute, under Pope Pius II. whether the blood of Christ, which fell from him in the three days passion, retained or loft the hypoftatic union; and confequently whether it was the proper object of adoration. The Dominicans maintained the former, the Francifcans the latter. It feems the dominican doctrine gained the afcendant, as being fitted to favour the profits of the monks; who becoming poffeffed fome way or other of a few drops of this precious liquor, were fecured of ample offerings from the deluded laity, who flocked to pay their homage to the facred relic. Jofeph of Arimathea is faid to have firft brought into Britain two filver veffels filled with the blood of Chrift, which by his order was buried in his tomb. King Henry III. had a cryftal, containing a portion of the fame blood, fent him by the mafter of the temple at Jerufalem, attefted with the feals of the patriarch; which treasure the king committed to the church of St Peter's Westminster, and obtained from the bishops an indulgence of fix years and 116 days to all that should vifit it. Mat. Paris even affures us, that the king fummoning his nobles and prelates to celebrate the feast of St Edward in St Peter's church, was chiefly pro veneratione fancti fanguinis Chrifli nuper adepti, "in veneration of the holy blood of Chrift lately acquired." Divers others of our monafteries were poffeffed of this profitable relic; as the college of Bon Hom

mes at Afhridge, and the abbey of Hales, to whom it Blood. was given by Henry, fon of Richard duke of Cornwall, and king of the Romans. To it reforted a great concourfe of people for devotion and adoration; till in 1538, as the reformation took place, it was perceived to be only honey clarified and coloured with faffron, as was shown at Paul's crofs by the bishop of Rochefter. The like discovery was made of the blood of Chrift, found among the relics in the abbey of Fefcamp in Normandy, pretended to have been preferved by Nicodemus, when he took the body from the cross, and given to that abbey by William duke of Normandy: it was buried by his fon Richard, and again difcovered in 1171, and attended with different miracles; but the cheat, which had been long winked at, was at length expofed, the relation of which is given by Speed.

Avenger of BLOOD, among the Jews, was the next of kin to the perfon murdered, who was to pursue the murderer.

Ecclefiaftical judges retire, when judgment is to be given in cafes of blood, by reafon the church is fuppofed to abhor blood: it condemns no person to death; and its members become irregular, or disabled from their functions, by the effufion of blood.

Field of BLOOD, in Syriac aceldama, was a field purchased by the Jews with the thirty pieces of filver which had been given to Judas for betraying his Mafter, and which he had restored. It ftill fervęs for a burial-ground, in which all pilgrims who die in their pilgrimage at Jerufalem are interred.

BLOOD-Hound, in zoology, the canis fagax of Linnæus*, le chien courant of Buffon, the fleuthounde of * See Canis, the Scots: The hound or dog, with long, finooth, and pendulous ears. It was a dog of great use, and in high efteem with our ancestors: its employ was to recover any game that had efcaped wounded from the hunter, or been killed and ftole out of the foreft. It was remarkable for the acuteness of its fmell, tracing the loft beaft by the blood it had fpilt; from whence the name is derived. This fpecies could, with the utmoft certainty, discover the thief by following his footfteps, let the diftance of his flight be ever so great, and through the moft fecret and thickeft coverts: nor would it ceafe its pursuit till it had taken the felon. They were likewise used by Wallace and Bruce during the civil wars. The poetical hiftorians of the two heroes frequently relate very curious paffages on this fubject ; of the fervice thefe dogs were of to their masters, and the efcapes they had from thofe of the enemy. The blood-hound was in great requeft on the confines of England and Scotland; where the borders were continually preying on the herds and flocks of their neighbours. The true blood-hound was large, ftrong, mufcular, broad breasted, of a stern countenance, of a deep tan-colour, and generally marked with a black spot above each eye.

BLOOD-Shotten. See OPHTHALMIA.

BLOOD Spavin. See FARRIERY, f xxxii. 2.
Spitting of BLOOD, or Hamoptöe. See MEDICINE-

Index.

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Blood.

BLOOD of Chrift, the name of a military order inftituted at Mantua in 1608. The number of knights was reftricted to 20, befides the grand mafter. Their device was, Domine, probafti me; or, Nihil hoc, trifte, recepto: "Lord, thou haft proved me;" or, "Fortified by this, no evil can prevail."

Precious BLOOD, a denomination given to a reformed congregation of Bernardine nuns at Paris, firft efta

blished under that name in 1661.

Dragon's BLOOD. See DRAGON. BLOOD-Stone. See HEMATITES. BLOOD-Veels. See ANATOMY, no 123, &c. and Plate XXXIII.

BLOOD-Wite, in ancient law writers, fignifies blood, and a customary amercement paid as a compofition for the fhedding or drawing of blood. The word is alfo written blodwite, blodwita, blodwyta, bloodwit, blodwit, bloudrit, and bluid-weit. It is formed from the ancient Saxon blud,"blood," and vite or wite, "a fine or penalty." The word alfo denotes an exemption from this penalty granted by the king to certain perfons and communities as a special favour. King Henry II. granted to all tenants within the honour of WallingfordUt quieti fint de hidagio et blodwite et bredwite.

BLOOD-Wort, in botany. See RUMEX. BLOOD (Thomas), generally known by the appellation of Colonel Blood, was a difbanded officer of Oliver Cromwell's, famous for his daring crimes and his good fortune. He was firft diftinguished by engaging in a conspiracy to surprise the caftle of Dublin; which was defeated by the vigilance of the Duke of Ormond, and fome of his accomplices were executed. Efcaping to England, he meditated revenge against Ormond; and actually feized him one night in his coach at St James'sftreet, where he might have finished his purpofe if he had not studied refinements in his vengeance. He bound him on horseback behind one of his affociates, refolving to hang him at Tyburn, with a paper pinned to his breast: but when they got into the fields, the duke, in his efforts for liberty, threw himfelf and the affaffin, to whom he was fastened, to the ground; and while they were ftruggling in the mire, he was refcued by his fervants; but the authors of this attempt were not then difcovered. A little after, in 1671, Blood formed a defign of carrying off the crown and regalia from the tower; a defign, to which he was prompted, as well by the furprifing boldness of the enterprize, as by the views of profit. He was very near fucceeding. He had bound and wounded Edwards the keeper of the jewel-office, and had got out of the tower with his prey; but was overtaken and feized, with fome of his affociates. One of them was known to have been concerned in the attempt upon Ormond; and Blood was immediately concluded to be the ringleader. When queftioned, he frankly avowed the enterprize; but refused to discover his accomplices. "The fear of death (he faid) fhould never engage him either to deny a guilt or betray a friend." All these extraordinary circumstances made him the general fubje&t of converfation; and the king was moved with an idle curiofity to fee and fpeak with a perfon fo noted for his courage and his crimes. Blood might now efteem himfelf fecure of pardon; and he wanted not addrefs to improve the opportunity. He told Charles, that he had been engaged, with others, in a defign to kill him

with a carabine above Batterfea, where his majesty often went to bathe: that the cause of this refolution was the feverity exercised over the confciences of the godly, in reftraining the liberty of their religious affemblies: that when he had taken his ftand among the reeds, full of these bloody refolutions, he found his heart checked with an awe of majesty; and he not only relented himfelf, but diverted his affociates from their purpose: that he had long ago brought himself to an entire indifference about life, which he now gave for loft; yet could he not forbear warning the king of the danger which might attend his execution: that his affociates had bound themselves by the ftricteft oaths to revenge the death of any of their confederacy; and that no precaution nor power could fecure any one from the effects of their defperate refolutions. Whether thefe confiderations excited fear or admiration in the king, they confirmed his refolution of granting a pardon to Blood; but he thought it a requifite point of decency first to obtain the Duke of Ormond's confent. Arlington came to Ormond in the king's name, and defired that he would not profecute Blood, for reafons which he was commanded to give him. The duke replied, that his majesty's commands were the only reason that could be given; and being fufficient, he might therefore spare the reft. Charles carried his kindnefs to Blood fill farther he granted him an eftate of L. 500 a-year in Ireland; he encouraged his attendance about his perfon; he showed him great countenance; and many applied to him for promoting their pretenfions at court. And while old Edwards, who had bravely ventured his life, and had been wounded, in defending the crown and regalia, was forgotten and neglected, this man, who deferved only to be flared at and detefted as a monfter, became a kind of favourite.-Blood enjoyed his penfion about 10 years, till being charged with fixing an imputation of a fcandalous nature on the Duke of Buckingham, he was thrown into prison, where he died Augult 24. 1680.

BLOODY, fomething belonging to or abounding with blood.

BLOODY-Flux. See MEDICINE- Index.

BLOODY-Hand, is when a trefpaffer is apprehended in a forest with his hands or other parts bloody; which is a circumftance of his having killed the deer, though he be not found chafing or hunting them. BLOODY-Rain. See RAIN.

BLOODY-Sweat. Many inftances of this are recorded, in which it has been owing to bodily diforder, or extreme mental agitation and agony. See particularly Ariftotle's Hift. Animal. lib. iii. cap. 19. apud Oper. ton. i. Thuanus Hift. Temp. &c. lib. ii. apud Oper. tom. i. Melanges d'Hiftoire et de Literature, &c. par M. V. Marville, tom. iii, p. 149. Acta Phyfico-Med. Norimberga, vol. i. p. 84. and vol. viii. p. 428.

BLOODY Urine. See MEDICINE-Index.

BLOOM, a mass of iron after having undergone the firft hammering called blomary. It has yet to undergo many hammerings before it become iron fit for the fmith's ufe, and be first made what they call the anony. See ANCONY.

BLOOT (Peter), a Flemish painter, whose works are not frequently feen in thefe kingdoms; nor are they eafily purchafed in Holland, being carefully preferved in private collections, and are highly efteemed.

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Bieffom The fubjects he chofe to paint were always taken from the loweft life; fuch as boors drinking, feafting, dancing, or quarrelling; fhepherds piping, and fometimes the marriages of villagers. He was a faithful, and indeed too fervile an imitator of nature; never departing from the actions, attitudes, or draperies of his models. He fhowed a good knowledge of the chiarofcuro, and perspective; he had a delicate manner of penciling, and his colouring was mellow; but he had no idea of elegance: yet his pictures have in many refpects great merit, and his defects feem rather imputable to the taste of his country than to his own genius; fome of his works being, for the lightnefs of the touch, the neatnefs of handling, and tranfparence of colour, equal to the best of his time. He died in 1667.

BLOSSOM, in a general fenfe, denotes the flower of any plant. See the article FLOWER.

BLOSSOM, in a more proper fenfe, is reftrained to the flowers of trees, which they put forth in the fpring as the forerunners of their fruit, otherwife called their blom. The office of the loffom is partly to protect, and partly to draw nourishment to, the embryo, fruit, or feed.

BLOSSOM, or Peach-coloured, in the manege, a term applied to a horfe that has his hair white, but intermixed all over with forrel and bay hairs. Such horfes are fo infenfible and hard both in the mouth and the flanks, that they are scarce valued; befides they are apt to turn blind.

BLOSSOMING OF PLANTS, the act of blowing, or putting forth flowers or bloffoms, called alfo flowering. The bloffoming of the Glaftenbury thorn pioufly on Christmas-day-morning, is a vulgar error; owing to this, that the plant, befides its ufual bloffoming in the fpring, fometimes puts forth a few white tranfient bloffems in the middle of winter. For the bloffoming of the rofe of Jericho on the fame day as it is commonly held in England, or in the time of midnight mass, as it is held in France, is fomewhat more than an error, being really a fraud on one fide, and a fuperftition on the other. This rofe, whofe leaves are only closed and shrivelled up in winter, will, at any time, upon fetting its pedicle in water, expand and bloffom a new; because the pedicle being spongy imbibes the fluid apace, and thus fills and fwells out the fhrivelled leaves which property fome monks have turned to good account.

BLOTELING or BLOOTELING (Abraham), an engraver who flourished about the year 1672. He was a native of Amfterdam, and defigned as well as engraved. From the ftyle of his etchings, which have great merit, he is fuppofed to have frequented the fchool of the Viffchers. He came into England about the year 1672, or 1673, at the time the French invaded Holland; but he did not refide here long. He not only etched, but also fcraped, several mezzotintos, which were much esteemed. Vertue informs us, that whilft he was in England, he received 30 guineas for an etching of the duke of Norfolk. From hence he returned to Amfterdam, where, in all probability, he died. In the year 1685, he published at Amfterdam the gems of Leonardo Auguftino, and etched the plates himself.

BLOUNT (Thomas), a learned English writer of
N° 48.

Upon

the 17th century, born at Bordefley in Worcesterfire. Blount. He had not the advantage of an univerfity education; but, by ftrength of genius and great application, made a confiderable progrefs in literature. the breaking out of the popish plot in the reign of king Charles II. being much alarmed on account of his being a zealous Roman-catholic, he contracted a palfy; and died in December 1679, aged 61. He wrote, 1. The academy of eloquence, containing a complete English rhetoric. 2. Gloffographica, or a dictionary interpreting fuch hard words, whether Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, &c. that are now used in our refined English tongue, &c. 3. Bofcobel; or the history of his majefty's efcape after the battle of Worcefter. 4. A law dictionary. 5. Animadverfions upon Sir Richard Baker's chronicle. 6. Fragmenta Antiquitatis; and other works.

BLOUNT (Sir Henry), an English writer, born at his father's feat in Hertfordshire in 1602. After a regular education, he fet out on his travels in 1634; and getting acquainted with a janizary at Venice, he accompanied him into the Turkish dominions: having been abroad two years, he returned and published a relation of his travels in the Levant, which went thro' feveral editions. He was knighted by Charles I. and was at the battle of Edge-hill, at which time he is fuppofed to have had the charge of the young princes; but, after the king's death, was employed by the parliament, and by Cromwell. Yet after the restoration of the royal family he was appointed high fheriff of the county of Hertford, and from that time lived as a private gentleman above 20 years. He published, 1. An account of his travels. 2. Six comedies written by John Lilly, under the title of Court Comedies. 3. The exchange walk, a fatire; and 4. An epiftle in praife of tobacco. He died October 9th, 1682.

BLOUNT (Sir Thomas Pope), baronet, an eminent writer, and the eldeft fon of the former, was born at Upper Holloway, in the county of Middlefex, September 12th, 1649. He was educated under the eye of his father; and always diftinguished himself as a lover of liberty, a fincere friend to his country, and a true patron of learning. He was advanced to the degree of baronet by king Charles II. in whose reign he was elected burgefs for St Alban's in two parliaments, and was knight of the fhire in three parliaments after the Revolution. He wrote in Latin, 1. A critique on the most celebrated writers. 2. Effays on feveral subjects. 3. A natural history, extracted out of the belt modern writers; and, 4. Remarks upon poetry, with characters and cenfures of the most confiderable poets, whether ancient or modern. He died June 30th, 1697.

BLOUNT (Charles), younger brother of Sir Thomas Pope Blount, had alfo an excellent capacity, and was an eminent writer. His Anima Mundi, or An hif torical narration of the opinions of the ancients, concerning man's foul after this life, according to unenlightened nature, gave great offence, and was complained of to the bishop of London. But the work which rendered him most known, was his tranflation of Philoftratus's Life of Apollonius Tyanaus, published in 1680; which was foon fuppreffed, as an attack on revealed religion. Another work of the fame complexion he published the fame year, called Great is Diana of

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