i. orm 



BOUACIC ACID. 



During the rrimmn war, the sufferings of the troop* were greatly nd 

 iinniinMrilj incraued by the ahamefiU quality of the boot* and shoe* 

 applied .. the army by some of the contractor*. Mr. Medwin, an 

 xperteooed -boot-maker, in a letter to the Time*,' detailed in the 

 Mi-win* term* come of the cause* of this unsuiUbleness. Referring 

 to water-boot* for wet weather, b* Mid : "The (trans used for the-e 

 have beea a piece of narrow cotton tape, breaking alter two or three 

 time* of trial, and causing the boot*, especially if damp, to pull <>n 

 with much difficulty. A leather (trap substituted for the cotton tape 

 would cost no more, and would la*t out the boot. The inner sole, or 

 that on which the foot rest*, being a part not Men, in generally in an 

 untainted, or nearly in iu raw green *tate; the effect of this i 

 inevitably to blister ami draw the feet ; and when thin crude leather is 

 drying, after the boot ha* been damp or in water, materially to sin ink 

 and contract it Through carelessness or want of judgment the 

 *ami in the shorter boots are ao placed as if purposely to cut like a 

 tightened cord over the most tender parts of the foot : and thin where 

 there is most exposure to the weather, and where also the work is most 

 likely to come undone, and to be difficult of repair. If the boot 

 were properly contrived, no seam would be needed across this sus- 

 ceptible portion of the foot; alt pressure would be thus got rid of, and 

 oae fruitful cause for the necessity of reimira removed. I venture to 

 affirm that, so far as the structure of the foot is concerned, our army 

 hunt* are fully a century behind the improvements of the day loose, 

 where a hold upon the foot is needed ; and consequently tight across 

 the articulated portions of the foot, where ease, play, and freedom are 

 especially required." He affirmed that well-made and well-fitting 

 boots and shoe* might be supplied to the army at prices not exceeding 

 those now paid by the nation for ill-mnde articles. An inquiry made 

 in 1858, by a body of special commissioners, into certain defalcations 

 at the military depot at Weedon, brought to light many facts tending 

 to show in what manner official mismanagement led to a great waste of 

 public money in obtaining supplies^f soldiers' boots and shoes. 



The boot and shoe manufacture has till now (1859) been almost 

 wholly a handicraft employment ; but the manufacturers of North- 

 ampton and Stafford are gradually introducing sewing-machines, to 

 expedite certain departments of the labour. The workmen ore bring- 

 ing all the force of combination and trades' unions to resist this inno- 

 vation; but the past history of manufactures points clearly to the 

 impossibility of preventing the introduction of such machinery as will 

 expedite the processes or diminish the cost of labour. 



Notwithstanding the large number of persons employed in this 

 trade in England, and the abundant supply of leather, there is still a 

 considerable importation of boots and shoes from abroad, chiefly 

 French. These importations, however, are much more largely in boot- 

 front* than hi finished boots and shoes; owing to a considerable 

 difference in the rate of duty. The boots, shoes, goloshes, and boot- 

 front* imported in the last three years amounted to the following 

 quantities : 



BooU, Shoe*, and 



Golcnhes. Boot Front*. Total. 



m 



1857 

 IMS 



P>ira. 



194,991 



Fairs. 

 670,510 

 591,171 



Fair*. 

 860,815 

 750,162 

 775,061 



BOOTES (from the Greek BoSr, io, " an ox "), one of the old con- 

 U-llationx. Its name signifies the htrdmum; but it is as frequently 

 called Arttophylajc by the ancient*, which means the ffnard of the bear. 

 Aratus calls it by both names. 



" Arctophytox, nOgo qirf dioirar MM Boo tea," 



i* the version of Cicero. Both Aratus ami Ryginus place AncTfiu s 

 in or under the girdle ; but it is usual to draw it between the legs of 

 the figure. Manilius also uses both names. The constellation is con- 

 nected mythologically with the tables of Areas, Icarus, Lycooii, and 

 others. The Arabic translators of Ptolemy rendered Bootes by btttaiccr 

 or mfifmlnr. According to the old figures attached to Hyginus, he is 

 represented as a man with a spear in the right hand (viewed from the 

 back BATCH, fat Bioo. Div.) and a sickle in tin- left. The modern 

 figure* represent a man with a club in the right hand i view. ,1 in front i, 

 and in the left the string which holds the two dogs (Cases Vonatici). 

 It would seem to be probable that the Great Bear was originalh 

 an agricultural animal or instrument (an ox, an ass. or a waggon), 

 Md Bootes the driver. 



The principal (ton in Bootes are as follows : 



i 

 I 

 t 



Bo. fa OatatcfrM 

 ofl 



4 



5 



8 



U 



17 



21 



at 



No. It Catalog.* 



4507 

 4415 

 4448 

 4729 

 4720 

 4741 

 4742 

 4789 



Magnitude. 



No. In Catalogue 

 No. la Catalogue of Britih 

 Character. of Flamstaed. Aawwialion. 



'27 4812 



29 4847 



7 



w 



30 

 36 

 87 

 42 



49 



M4fl 



4876 

 4905 

 *9H 

 10* 



Magnitude. 



N 



3 

 Si 

 3 

 N 



3 



8* . 



BORACIC ACID (BO,), formerly called /fomlxrt/'i tftiatire full ami 

 mil of turns, in a compound of the elementary body boron and 

 oxygen. It exists in considerable quantity in combination with 

 the waters of certain lakes in Thilx't and Persia, forming 'borax <>r tin 

 biborate of soda. From this salt, which is mentioned under the head 

 of salts of boracic acid, termed boraltt, it is procured by dissolving 

 four parts of it in sixteen parts of boiling water, and adding one part of 

 concentrated sulphuric acid to the filtered solution. Owing t<> the 

 superior affinity of the sulphuric acid for the soda, sulphate of soda is 

 formed, and the boracic acid separated crystallises as the solution cools : 

 it is to be allowed to drain, to be redissolved in boiling water, and 

 again crystallised to separate the sulphuric acid which adheres to it. In 

 order to purify it entirely from this acid, Berz'elius recommends that it 

 should be fused in a platinum crucible, and again dissolved in boiling 

 water and crystallised. 



Boracic acid in the uncorabined state is found in the hot aqueous 

 and sulphurous vapours that issue from the earth in the volcanic 

 district of Tuscany. It is obtained in the following manner : Round 

 the larger fissures in the sides of a hill basins are dug, usually about 

 five feet deep and fifteen feet in diameter. Into these, called l<i<inn i 

 (lagoons), water from a small stream i conducted, and the hot v;'|nr.-i 

 passing through them, leave behind the boracic acid in solution. The 

 hot liquid is then run off into lagoons on a lower level, and finally, 

 after standing some time in reservoirs to deposit suspended impurities, 

 is concentrated in shallow leaden vessels ingeniously heated by flues, 

 through which the hot vapours issuing from some of the fissures are 

 mode to pass. On the cooling of the concentrated solution, the boracic 

 acid crystallises out, and when dried, is packed in casks and sent 

 into commerce. It always requires subsequent purification by re- 

 crystallisation. 



Boracic acid has the form of small scaly brilliant colourless crystals, 

 which have a greasy feel. This acid is inodorous; its taste is not 

 strong, and scarcely at all acid. It reddens litmus paper but slightly, 

 and turns turmeric paper brown, as the alkalies do. Water at 60 

 dissolves about l-2(ith of its weight of this acid, and boiling water 

 nearly one-third. It contains about forty-four per cent, of water of 

 crystallisation, which is entirely expelled when it is gradually heated 

 to redness in a platinum crucible. If the crystals are suddenly 

 heated, a portion of the acid is carried off by the vapour of the expelled 

 water. When fused boracic acid cools and becomes solid, it splits, and 

 during this operatio it is luminous in the dark ; the light is probably 

 electric. 



When a substance is suspected to contain boracic acid, it should !, 

 heated with concentrated sulphuric acid, a small quantity of alcohol 

 added, and the mixture inflamed, when the spirit ill burn with a green 

 flame if boracic acid is present. Before .applying this test, the absence 

 of copper must be ascertained, as it communicates to flame a similar 

 colouration. 



Boracic acid in crystals has a specific gravity of V48 ; when fused it 

 is l'S3. It is soluble in alcohol, and the solution burns with a green 

 flame. Although it acts weakly as an acid upon litmus paper, it 

 decomposes the alkaline carbonates with effervescence, and at a red heat 

 it expels most of the volatile acids from their bases. 



Boracic acid is, according to Berzelius, composed of 



3 equivalents oxygen .... 24-00 

 1 do. boron 10'91 



Equivalent 34-91 



Boracic acid is sometimes used in chemical investigations, and was 

 formerly employed in np-lieine. 



H'li-ii'ta are the salts which contain boracic acid : of the*! the only 

 important one is 



Rorax, a compound of borncie acM and woda, the correct appellation 

 of which is biborate of soda. Thin xll is imi>orted from the East 

 Indies under the name of Hum! or rn//A '..<. It U supposed to bo 

 the substance called by Pliny dtriinacHUa. Qober in the 7thcutmy 

 mention* borax; its nature was pointed out by GmflVoy in 1/32 and 



in 1748. It is brought from Persia, Ceylon, and also 

 Thibet, from a lake entirely supplied by spring)), fifteen days' journoy 

 liom Toonhoo KuintKM. tin- c.ipital. Tincal as imported U mixed with 

 a fatty matter, which may be separated by acids. 



The crystal* of tincal are bluish or greenish white, and are some- 

 times nearly transparent, but more commonly opaque. They are soft 

 and brittle. The primary form in an oblique rhombic prism. 1 

 i* purified by solution in water and crystallisation, and is then 

 borax. 



