BLINDFISH 772 



Natural history is taught by the use of life- 

 siie models and mounted specimens of animals 

 and birds, and models of papier-mache also 

 help in the study of anatomy. The models 

 used in teaching botany must sometimes be 

 much more than life size, that the different 

 parts may be perceived by touch. 



In most residential schools kindergartens for 

 the blind have been established. The work is 

 very successful, since all those occupations 

 which do not call for blending of colors or for 

 drawing may be taught. Froebel's gifts (see 

 KINDERGARTEN), in use in all kindergarten work, 

 require but little adaptation for use with sight- 

 less children. 



At Louisville, Ky., and in connection with 

 the Perkins Institution in Boston, there are 

 special printing establishments which put out 

 . works for the blind, and thousands of volumes, 

 both of school text-books and of the choicest 

 works, are now available in embossed type. The 

 schools, all of which have libraries, are gener- 

 ally anxious to loan these to any blind person, 

 and the United States Postoffice Department 

 carries them free. The Congressional Library 

 at Washington has a special reading room in 

 which books for the blind are kept, and else- 

 where several of the large public libraries have 

 embossed books for circulation. E.E.A. 



BLIZZARD 



SnbjrctB. Those interested In this 

 subject will find the following articles helpful : 

 Astigmatism Eye, Subhead Care of 



Bridgman, Laura the Eye 



Cataract Keller, Helen A. 



BLINDFISH, the name given to several 

 kinds of fish inhabiting the waters of caves. 

 Those in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, espe- 

 cially, are objects of curiosity to tourists. 

 Places for the eyes are indicated on the head, 

 but the fish have no organs resembling eyes. 

 The head and body, however, are covered with 

 rows of small projecting bodies, or papillae, 

 that are very sensitive to the touch. These 

 fish never exceed five inches in length; the 

 body is colorless and when held between the 

 eye and a light shows the light through it 

 dimly. Scientists have never definitely settled 

 the question whether or not these fish formerly 

 had eyes, but the general supposition is that 

 the eyes have been lost through living for ages 

 in waters from which light was excluded. See 

 MAMMOTH CAVE. 



BLIWDWORM, sometimes called BLJNDSNAK.E, 

 because of the very small size of their eyes. 

 There are- three principal species, but actual 

 blindness is not present in any of them. The 



most important is a group of serpent-like liz- 

 ards, of which the common blindworm, or slow- 

 worm, gives the name to the type. They are 

 found west of the Mississippi River. Another is 

 a family of true serpents known as blindsnakes, 

 inhabiting warm climates. These are most 

 nearly blind, for their eyes are very small and 

 weak and occasionally almost invisible. The 

 third group comprises a family of degenerate 

 amphibians (see AMPHIBIAN) which inhabit 

 South America and Mexico principally. 



BLISS, TASKER HOWARD (1853- ), an 

 American army officer of varied experience who 

 in 1917 was sent to Paris as the military repre- 

 sentative of the United States on the allied war 

 board. He was born at Lewisburg, Pa., finished 

 half of the course of study at Buchnell Uni- 

 versity and then was appointed a cadet at West 

 Point, from which he was graduated in 1875. 

 He served three years as professor of military 

 science in the Naval War College, and in 1888 

 went to Spain as military attache of the Ameri- 

 can legation. During the Spanish-American 

 War he served in the Porto Rican campaign, 

 and at its close was appointed collector of cus- 

 toms at the port of Havana, during American 

 occupation. 



By this time he had risen to the rank of 

 brigadier-general. Upon release from Havana 

 he became a member of Army War College 

 Board, then commandant of the Army War 

 College. In 1903 he was sent to the Philippine 

 Islands as a department commander. When he 

 returned home in 1909 he became president of 

 the Army War College and assistant chief of 

 staff of the army. During the early part of the 

 Mexican uprising he commanded a brigade on 

 the border, and in 1915 returned to Washington 

 as assistant chief of staff. In November, 1915, 

 he was raised to the rank of major-general. 

 President Wilson assigned him to the Paris post 

 as soon as American soldiers reached France in 

 large numbers. 



BLIZZARD, bliz' ard, a severe winter storm 

 characterized by violent, cold wind filled with 

 tiny particles of ice and snow. These storms, 

 known by different names in different northern 

 countries, are caused in the great polar regions 

 by high barometric pressure forcing out cur- 

 rents of cold air. They are usually preceded by 

 a short period of warm weather, and Weather 

 Bureau officials are able to forecast their course 

 with great accuracy. They are common in 

 Central and Eastern Canada, in the northern 

 part of the Mississippi basin in the United 

 States, and in Russia and Siberia. Because of 



