BONNET. 



BOOKBINDING. 



260 



cwts. of bone-dust thus prepared, produced as great an effect upon the 

 turnip crop, as many bushels of the bones in a cruder rougher form. 



The fact appears to be as the result of more modern experience, that 

 while the gelatinous part of bone undoubtedly yields by its decompo- 

 sition valuable fertilising substances, it is to the mineral part of the 

 material the phosphate of lime, or rather, its phosphoric acid, which 

 it contains that its fertilising action is mainly due. Every process, 

 therefore, which has increased either the solubility or the liability to 

 solution of this part of the manure, has increased the rapidity and 

 immediate effect of its application. By reducing bones to powder you 

 increase their liability to solution, for you thereby increase the surface 

 wetted by the rain-water. Rain-water contains carbonic acid, and by 

 this acid the phosphate of lime acquires a soluble form, and is 

 ultimately presented liquid to the absorbent roots of plants. 



But this solubility can be conferred upon it directly. It was Baron 

 Liebig who suggested that a similar process to that by which soluble 

 phosphoric acid is obtained from bones in the process of manufacturing 

 phosphorus, might be available in the manufacture of a valuable manure. 

 If sulphuric acid be added to bone-dust, the latter becomes to some 

 extent decomposed. A portion of its lime is taken from the phosphate 

 of lime in the bone, and unites with the sulphuric acid ; the phosphoric 

 acid of that portion of the phosphate which has been decomposed, 

 unites with the portion of phosphate which has been left undisturbed, 

 and forms a superphosphate ; and this is soluble in water. It is the 

 proportion of the resultant manure which is thus rendered soluble that 

 is the measure of the immediate energy and value of the so-called 

 " superphosphate," which is thus prepared for sale and use. Every 

 manure maker now prepares a superphosphate and a good manure of 

 the kind should contain at least 15 per cent, or more of the soluble 

 superphosphate, and 15 per cent of the neutral, or natural bone 

 phosphate, together with a small proportion of ammonia, resulting 

 from the gelatinous part of the bone-dust. Where the mineral phosphate 

 of lime, coprolite, or apatite, is used in the manufacture, the neutral 

 phosphate left unacted on by the acid is useless as a manure. Where 

 bone-dust is the source employed of the phosphate of lime, then of 

 course, that portion left unacted on, retaining its natural cellular 

 structure, is still liable to the natural influence of atmospheric solvents, 

 and will continue gradually to dissolve and yield food for plants. In 

 both cases, however, it is the quantity already reduced to a soluble 

 state, which is the measure of the immediate value of the fertiliser. 

 This effect is not due to any power which the manure has thus 

 acquired of at once entering the roots of plants, because the immediate 

 effect of the contact of a soluble superphosphate with the earths 

 present in the soil, is to cause it to resume its original condition of 

 neutral, and therefore comparatively insoluble phosphate of lime. 

 Having, however, once been in a state of solution, it retains hi its 

 precipitated state, a condition of so much finer division than any 

 mechanical means could give it, that the superphosphate is as rapid in 

 its action on the crops to which it is applied, as if it retained its 

 solubility throughout. 



The effect of this "manufacture of superphosphate on the farm 

 practice of the country has been greatly to alter the method of 

 applying bone-dust. Formerly, 24 bushels of bone-dust were applied 

 for the turnip crop per acre and upwards of one ton per acre was 

 applied in Cheshire to pastures. Now, 3 or 4 cwts. of superphosphate 

 are applied per acre to the turnip crop with an even greater effect. 



A good superphosphate as now manufactured ought to contain 18 to 

 20 per cent, of the soluble phosphate, and 10 to 15 of the neutral 

 phosphate, and from 1 } to 2 per cent, of ammonia. Such a manure is 

 well worth 11. a ton. It is applied almost exclusively to the turnip 

 crop ; being drilled in before the seed or scattered broadcast before 

 the land is ribbed up to receive the seed. The ordinary application 

 is 3 or 4 cwts. per acre, with a half dressing of ordinary farm 

 manure. It is less useful as a manure for corn crops of any kind ; but 

 for green crops, and especially the turnip, it is unrivalled. 



BONNET, a name sometimes applied, in permanent fortification, to a 

 work consisting of two faces forming a salient angle which was employed 

 to cover the angle of a ravelin when the faces only of the latter were 

 protected by tennillnnt or lunettes ; the fire from the bonnet defends 

 the fronts and salient angles of the tenaillons, and the faces of the 

 former work are reciprocally defended by those of the latter. 

 [TEXAILLOK.] When the parapet about the salient angle of any work, 

 as a bastion or ravelin, is raised above the general level of the faces of 

 the work, the elevated part is now occasionally called a bonnet. 



BONNET DE PRETRE was a term in field fortification, applied by 

 the French engineers to an indented line of parapet having three salient 

 points, on account of some supposed resemblance to the object from 

 which it was- named. [KKDAX. ) 



BONZES is the name by which the priests of Buddha are usually 

 designated in Japan. The form of the name in the Japanese language 

 is bontan, which word is supposed by Mr. B. H. Hodgson (' Journal of 

 the Royal Asiat. Soc.,' 1835, vol. ii.) to be a corruption of the Sanscrit 

 i (vandya, ' laudable, deserving praise ' ?) They go with their 

 heads entirely shorn, whence they are often ironically called tami-naga, 

 nr " long-haired men." The highest in rank is the da'iri, or spiritual 

 sovereign of Japan, who resides at Miaco. Till towards the conclusion 

 of the 12th century (A.D. 1185) the power of the dairi in Japan was 

 nearly absolute; since then the supreme government has become 



vested in the djogoun, or secular commander-ill chief of the empire, 

 and the influence of the da'iri in temporal affairs is now next to none, 

 though he still continues to enjoy the honours of a merely nominal 

 sovereignty. (Titsingh, ' Illustrations of Japan," translated by F. Scho- 

 bert, London, 1822, 4to.) 



The Bonzes are under a vow of celibacy, and form a large corpora- 

 tion of male and female ecclesiastics. They are divided into sects, 

 hostile to each other, and externally distinguished by the colour of 

 their robes. They maintain their influence chiefly by the popular 

 belief in the efficacy of their intercession for others by prayer. Once 

 in every fortnight they deliver a public religious discourse in the 

 temples, usually before numerous congregations. The Jesuit mis- 

 sionary, Caspar Villela, who attended several public meetings of this 

 kind, speaks in high terms of the eloquence of the preachers whom he 

 heard, and of their impressive and dignified mode of delivery. Even 

 the female Bonzes are said occasionally to preach. 



The Japanese priesthood comprises individuals of all ranks of society. 

 Persons of high birth, even the sons of kings, are known to have 

 entered the order of Bonzes, but the majority belong to the lower and 

 poorer classes. Many Bonzes earn their livelihood by superintending 

 funerals. All claim it as the exclusive prerogative of their order to 

 speak upon the religion of Buddha, the doctrines of which they will 

 not allow to be touched upon by any one else. The principal moral 

 precepts which they inculcate are five, namely, not to kill, not to 

 steal, chastity, veracity, and abstinence from spirituous liquors; but 

 there are esoteric, as well as exoteric, doctrines held and taught, the 

 mass of the followers being chiefly instructed as to certain formal 

 observances and ceremonies. 



There are convents for the male as well as for the female Bonzea, 

 some of which have then- own fixed annual revenues, while others are 

 maintained by voluntary contributions from the people. The discipline 

 enforced in these convents is described as rather strict. At different 

 hours during the day the sounding of a bell summons the inmates to 

 their common devotions. In the evening the prefect assigns to every 

 one a special theme for his meditations. After midnight all assemble 

 to sing hymns before the altar. Their meals they take in common, and 

 those who conform strictly to the rule abstain from meat and fish, as 

 well as from wine and all spirituous liquors. Some of the convents are 

 said to contain large libraries. 



Gemelli, who visited China in 1695-6, speaks of the three religious 

 sects in that kingdom, and accuses the Bonzes of Buddha of idolatry, 

 and calls them " a pernicious sect," but acknowledges that they teach 

 the soul's immortality and a future state of rewards and punishments. 

 He says theirs is the religion of the commonalty and " the baser sort." 

 He states, also, that they had the greater number of wealthy and 

 beautiful temples as pagodas, and that there were 350,000 who had 

 patents, while the whole number would amount to a million, and that 

 in Pekin there were 10,568 who had no wives, for one of then- doc- 

 trines was the superiority of celibacy, and 5022 who were married. 

 Sir John Davis (' The Chinese,' vol. ii.) states that they teach a 

 species of metempsychosis, till the soul is absorbed into nonentity, 

 but that they are not strictly speaking idolaters, as they sacrifice to the 

 invisible spirit, and not to the representation of it in the idol, a dis- 

 tinction apt to be confounded by their less intelligent followers. 



In Siam and Tibet, where the worship of Buddha also prevails, the 

 priests are distinguished in the first as TALAPOINS, in the second as 

 LAMAS. 



BOOKBINDING. When books were merely groups of leaves, either 

 of thin skin or some kind of vegetable membrane, the art of the 

 bookbinder was a very primitive one. He had simply to paste or glue 

 the leaves together, so as to form an extended sheet, and to attach 

 this sheet to a cylinder round which it might be rolled. Even to the 

 present day it is customary in some Oriental countries to write on 

 slips of vellum, to sew these slips together into one long sheet or 

 page, and to attach this sheet to rollers at each end, clasped with gold 

 or silver. The square form of binding, now so well known, was 

 of later date, and constituted a very marked improvement ; it was 

 adopted largely for the written missals used in Roman Catholic coun- 

 tries, long before the invention of printing, and has been retained as 

 the most convenient mode of binding. 



In the binding of a book at the present day, whether humble or 

 costly, there are generally three classes or successive stages of opera- 

 tions, varying in detail according to circumstances, but following each 

 other pretty nearly in regular order. These relate first to the grouping 

 of the sheets together, in a uniform and symmetrical way ; next to the 

 fixing of the stiff covers or boards which give firmness to the book ; 

 and lastly to those processes which relate rather to the external beauty 

 than to the strength or efficiency of the book. These we shall designate 

 as 1. Preparing; 2. Binding; 3. finishing; and shall notice the 

 chief varieties as we go on. 



1. Preparing. A book is built up of several sheets, each folded and 

 re-foljed so as to assume a more convenient size than as originally 

 printed. The number of successive foldings depends on tho size of the 

 work ; thus octavo or 8vo, implies that there are eight printed pages on 

 one side of a sheet, and that the sheet must be so folded as to be brought 

 to one-eighth of its original size. The number whereby the size of a 

 book is designated expresses at the same time the number of printed 

 pages obtained from one side of a printed sheet, such as folio, 4to, 8vo, 



