BOS BOSNIA. 



633 



valley, and the soil varies from a light loam to a 

 mossy soil on a cold till bottom; but the state of 

 cultivation is very good, and the neighbourhood of 

 Dalkeith affords a good market to the fanner. Lime 

 and coal abound in this parish. Near the church, 

 erected in 1778, in lieu of one burnt down in 1775, 

 and seated on an eminence, are the ruins of Borth- 

 wick castle, built in 1436, and surrounded on every 

 side by water, except the west, which was defended 

 by two strong towers. Here the earl of Bothwell 

 and queen Mary took refuge until after the battle of 

 Carberry hill ; and it was besieged in 1650 by Oliver 

 Cromwell, to whom it soon surrendered. This parish 

 has produced several eminent men, including the 

 historian, Dr Robertson, the several Dundasses of 

 Arniston, and James Small, an ingenious and inven- 

 tive mechanic, well known for his improvements on 

 agricultural implements. The population of the pa- 

 rish, which includes the villages of Fushie and Mid- 

 dleton, was, in 1831, 1,473. 



Bos, Lambert, a profound philologist, was born at 

 Worcum, in Friesland, 1670, and died in 1717. He 

 studied in the university at Franeker, where his 

 rapid and brilliant progress obtained for him the 

 Greek professorship in 1704. His Ellipses Grcecce is 

 a standard work, and has been often printed. The 

 edition of Schaffer (Leipsic, 1808) is the best. The 

 Antiquit. Grcec. Descriptio has also passed through 

 numerous editions. His Vet. Test, ex Versione LXX. 

 is highly esteemed. He was also the author of several 

 other valuable philological works. 



BOSCAN, Almogaver, Juan, a Spanish poet, born 

 towards the close of the fifteenth century, at Barce- 

 lona, died about 1540. His parents, who belonged 

 to the most ancient nobility, gave him a careful edu- 

 cation. He followed the court of Charles V., and, 

 in 1526, was attached to it for some time in Grenada. 

 His noble manners and character gained him the 

 favour of the emperor. The education of the duke 

 of Alva was committed to him, and his instructions 

 developed the great qualities which the duke after- 

 wards displayed. After his marriage, B. lived at 

 Barcelona, occupied in publishing his works, together 

 with those of his deceased friend Garcilaso, in which 

 he was employed at the time of his death. B. was 

 persuaded to attempt Italian measures in Spanish, by 

 Antonio Navagero, an Italian scholar and ambassador 

 of the republic of Venice at the court of the emperor. 

 Thus he became the creator of the Spanish sonnet, 

 and, with Garcilaso, first used the terzine in his 

 poetical epistles and elegies. In general, he distin- 

 guished himself by introducing Italian forms into 

 Spanish poetry, which met with great opposition, and 

 not less applause. The poems of B. are still esteem- 

 ed. His other literary works, mostly translations, 

 are forgotten. 



BOSCAWEN, Hon. Edward, a British admiral of the 

 last century, was born in 1711, and distinguished 

 himself at Porto Bello and at Carthagena, where he 

 stormed a battery at the head of a part of his crew. 

 In 1744, he was promoted to the Dreadnought, a 

 sixty gun ship, in which he took the Media. Three 

 years afterwards, he signalized himself under Anson, 

 at the battle of cape Knisterre. Towards the close 

 of this year, he was raised to the rank of rear-admiral, 

 and despatched with a squadron to the East Indies. 

 Though he failed in an attempt on Pondicherry, he 

 succeeded in making himself master of Madras, and 

 returned to England, where he obtained a seat at the 

 admiralty board. In 1755, he again sailed for North 

 America, and, in an action with a French squadron, 

 two Ships of the line fell into his hands. In 1758, in 

 conjunction with lord Amherst, who commanded the 

 land forces, he succeeded in reducing Louisbourg 

 and cape Breton, and, the year following, having 



then the command in the Mediterranean, pursued 

 the Toulon fleet, under De la Clue, through the 

 straits of Gibraltar, and, coming up with it in Lagos 

 bay, completely defeated it, burning two ships and 

 taking three. For these services, he received the 

 thanks of parliament and 3000 a year, with the 

 rank of general of marines, in 1760. He died in the 

 following year. He sat in the parliament of 1743, as 

 member for Truro, in his native county. 



BOSCOVICH, Roger Joseph, an astronomer and geo- 

 metrician of distinguished eminence in the eighteenth 

 century, was a native of Ragusa, in Dalmatia. He 

 was educated among the Jesuits, and, entering into 

 their order, was appointed professor of mathematics 

 in the Roman college, before he had entirely com- 

 pleted the course of 1iis studies. He was employed 

 by pope Benedict XIV. in various undertakings, and, 

 in 1750, began the measurement of a degree of the 

 meridian in the Ecclesiastical States, which operation 

 occupied him for two years. He afterwards visited 

 the Pontine marsh, to give advice respecting the 

 draining of it. He was then intrusted, by the repub- 

 lic of Lucca, with the defence of its interests, in a 

 dispute about boundaries with the government of 

 Tuscany. This aflair obliged him to go to Vienna, 

 and, having terminated it with success, he visited 

 Paris and London. He was elected a fellow of the 

 royal society, and dedicated to this body a Latin poem 

 on eclipses. Returning to Italy, he was appointed 

 mathematical professor in the university of Pavia; 

 whence, in 1770, he removed to Milan, and there 

 erected the celebrated observatory at the college of 

 Brera. On the suppression of the order of Jesuits, 

 he accepted an invitation to France from Louis XV., 

 who gave him a pension of 8000 livres, with the 

 office of director of optics for the navy. This ap- 

 pointment induced him to pay particular attention to 

 that part of optical science which treats of the theory 

 of achromatic telescopes, on which subject he wrote 

 a treatise of considerable extent. He was obliged to 

 leave Paris, in 1783, on account of ill health, when 

 he retired to Milan, where he died, February 12, 

 1 787. An edition of the works of father B. was pub- 

 lished by himself, in 5 vols. 4to, 1785. His Theoria 

 Philosophies Naturalis reducta ad unicam Legem Vi- 

 rium in Nutura existentium, first published in 1758, 

 is a curious production, containing speculations of 

 which doctor Priestley availed himself in his writings 

 in favour of materialism. 



BOSHMEN, BOSJESMEN, or BUSHMEN. See Hottentots. 



BOSHITANAS. See Bushwanas. 



BOSNIA ; a Turkish province, with the title of a 

 kingdom, which comprehends, besides the ancient B., 

 part of Croatia (Sanjiak Bielogrod), between the rivers 

 Unna and Verbas, a tract of Dalmatia and Herzego- 

 vina, and is bounded N. by Sclavonia, W. by Croatia, 

 S. by Dalmatia and the Adriatic sea, and E. by Ser- 

 via. B. contains 22,500 square miles, with 850,000 

 inhabitants, mostly of Sclavonian origin, Bosniacs, 

 and Morlacs, among whom are 50,000 Turkish mili- 

 tia. The inhabitants are two thirds Christians, mostly 

 of the Greek church, and one third Turks, who pos- 

 sess nearly all the territorial property as allodiums or 

 feuds, besides Jews and Gipsies. The country is 

 level towards the north ; in the south, mountainous 

 and woody. Its chief rivers are the Save, the Verbas, 

 the Bosna, Rama, and Drina. B. contains fertile 

 fields, orchards, and vineyards : the breed of cattle is 

 excellent, and the mountains furnish good iron, of 

 which a great part is manufactured in the country i 

 into guns and blades. The other articles manufac- 

 tured are leather, morocco, and coarse woollen cloths. 

 In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, B. belonged 

 to Hungary. In 1339, it fell into the hands of Ste- 

 phen, king of Servia. After his death, it remained 

 4 K 



