BOETHIUS BOGDANOWITSCH. 



579 



Biclloo's place in the office of practical instruction, in 

 which he was employed more than ten years. An- 

 ticipating the great advantages of clinical institu- 

 tions, ana wishing to unite practice with theory, he 

 opened an hospital, where he lectured to his pupils 

 twice a-week, pn the history of the diseases before 

 them, confining himself to the particular pheno- 

 mena in each case presented to their observation. 

 Busily occupied as he already was, the university con- 

 ferred on him, at the deatli of Lemort, the professor- 

 ship of chemistry, which science he had taught since 

 1703. On this occasion he delivered his dissertation 

 De Chemia suos Errores expurgante. Although the 

 relations which B. supposes to exist between chemis- 

 try and medicine are ill-founded, he deserves credit 

 for rendering the science intelligible and familiar in 

 his excellent works on this subject. His Elements of 

 Chemistry is, perhaps, his finest production, and, not- 

 withstanding the entire revolution which has taken 

 place in this branch of science, is still highly valu- 

 able. His experiments are remarkable for their accu- 

 racy. The part which treats of organic bodies is ex- 

 ceedingly good for that period. So extensive a sphere 

 of action gained for B. a fame that few learned men 

 have enjoyed. People came from all parts of Europe 

 to ask his advice. His property amounted, at his 

 death, to 2,000,000 florins a very extraordinary for- 

 tune for a man of his profession in Europe. Peter 

 the Great visited him on his travels, and a Chinese 

 mandarin wrote to him with the address, " To Boer- 

 liaave, the celebrated physician in Europe." In 1722, 

 nn attack of the gout, accompanied with a stroke of 

 the apoplexy, obliged him to remit his active pur- 

 suits. New returns of his disorder, in 1727 and 1729, 

 compelled him to resign the professorships of chemis- 

 try and botany, which he had held for twenty years. 

 In 1730, he was again appointed rector, and, at the 

 close of his term, delivered a celebrated address, De 

 Honore, Medici Servitute, perhaps the best of all those 

 essays, in which he represents the physician as the 

 servant of nature, whose activity he is to awaken and 

 direct. In this he returned, in some measure, to the 

 principles of Hippocrates, from which, indeed, he had 

 never departed far in practice. In 1738, his disorder 

 returned with increased violence, and, after a few 

 months, put an end to his life, at the age of seventy. 

 The city erected a monument to him in St Peter's 

 church, with his favourite motto upon it Simplex 

 sigillum veri. 



BOETHIUS, Anicius Manlius Torquatus Severinus, a 

 man celebrated for his virtues, services, honours, and 

 tragical end, was born about 470 A. D., in Rome or 

 Milan, of a rich, ancient, and respectable family ; was 

 educated in Rome, in a manner well calculated to 

 develope his extraordinary abilities ; afterwards went 

 to Athens, which was still the centre of taste and 

 science, and studied philosophy under Proclus and 

 others. Returning to Rome, he was graciously re- 

 ceived by Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, then 

 master of Italy, loaded with marks of favour and 

 esteem, and soon raised to the first offices in the em- 

 pire. He exerted the best influence on the adminis- 

 tration of this monarch, so that the dominion of the 

 Goths promoted the welfare and happiness of the 

 people who were subject to them. He was long the 

 oracle of his sovereign and the idol of the people. 

 The highest honours were thought inadequate to re- 

 ward his virtues and services. But Theodoric, as he 

 grew old, became irritable, jealous, and distrustful of 

 those about him. The Goths now indulged in all 

 sorts of oppression and extortion, while B. exerted 

 himself in vain to restrain them. He had already 

 made many enemies by his strict integrity and vigi- 

 lant justice. These at last succeeded in prejudicing 

 the king against him, and rendering him suspicious 



of B. The opposition of B. to their unjust measures 

 was construed into a rebellious temper, and he was 

 even accused of a treasonable correspondence witt) 

 the court of Constantinople. He was arrested, im- 

 prisoned, and executed, A. D. 524 or 526. While 

 he was at the helm of state, he found recreation from 

 his toilsome occupations in the study of the sciences, 

 and devoted a part ot his leisure to the construction 

 of mathematical and musical instruments, some of 

 which he sent to Clothaire, king of France. He was 

 also much given to the study of the old Greek philoso- 

 phers and mathematicians, and wrote Latin transla- 

 tions of several of them. His most celebrated work 

 is that composed during his imprisonment, On the 

 Consolations of Philosophy. It is written in prose 

 and verse intermixed. The elevation of thought, the 

 nobleness of feeling, the ease and distinctness of 

 style, which it exhibits, make this composition, short 

 as it is, far superior to any other of the age. (Prin- 

 cipal edition, Basil, 1570, folio. A modern one of 

 some value appeared at Glasgow, 1751, 4to.) 



BOETHIUS, Hector. See Boece. 



BOETTCHER, John Frederic, the inventor of the 

 Dresden porcelain, born Feb. 5, 1682, at Schleiz, in 

 the Voigtland, in his fifteenth year went from Mag- 

 deburg, where he received his early education, to 

 Berlin, as apprentice of an apothecary. There he 

 devoted his nights to the art of making gold. His 

 want of sleep rendered him so stupid, during the day, 

 as to draw upon him many reproofs, till, at last, he 

 acquired some consideration by showing little pieces 

 of gold, which he pretended to have made. Oct. 1, 

 1701, he changed, as it is said, in the presence of se- 

 veral witnesses, eighteen pieces of silver into fine 

 gold. As this was much talked of, the king desired 

 to see him, and B., believing lie was to be arrested as 

 an adept (q. v.), fled to Saxony. The king of Saxony 

 gave him large sums of money, which he wasted, 

 still keeping his employer in suspense. His majesty 

 finally became very impatient to see the gold. B. , 

 therefore, in 1704, attempted to escape, but was 

 overtaken, and, with the assistance of one Tschirn- 

 hausen, who had discovered a kind of porcelain, in- 

 vented an improved composition of it, with which he 

 hoped to appease the king, who spent immense sums 

 in China ware. In 1705, B. invented the Dresden 

 porcelain, which has since become so famous. He 

 made use of a clay found in the vicinity of Meissen. 

 The king, upon this, made him a baron of the em- 

 pire, and director of the new manufactory of porce- 

 lain in Meissen, though he was often treated as a 

 prisoner, lest the secret should be betrayed. He was 

 finally removed from his dignity, on account of his 

 immoral life, and died, March 13, 1719, in the 

 greatest poverty, so that he did not even leave suffi- 

 cient to pay the expenses of his funeral. 



BOGDANOWITSCH, Hippolyt Federowitsch, the Rus- 

 sian Anacreon, was born in 1743, at Perewolotschna, 

 in White Russia. His father was a physician. He 

 was designed for an engineer ; went, for the purpose 

 of studying engineering, to Moscow, in 1754, and en- 

 tered an academy there ; but the sight of a splendid 

 play, and the reading of Lomonossow's poems, turned 

 his inclination to poetry. He wished to become an 

 actor, but the manager of the theatre, Cheraskow, 

 dissuaded him from his purpose. By his advice, 

 he applied himself to the study of the fine arts, and 

 to learning foreign languages. He gained patrons 

 and friends, and, in 1761, was made inspector in 

 the university of Moscow, and afterwards translator 

 in the department of foreign affairs. In 1762, he 

 travelled with count Beloselsky, as secretary of lega- 

 tion, to Dresden, where he devoted his whole atten- 

 tion to the study of the fine arts and of poetry, till 

 1768. The beautiful pictures in the gallery of that 



