BOL 



149 



BOM 



provided the pressure of the atmosphere 

 be the same. The boiling point of water 

 Is 212, of mercury, 656. 



BOITI'APO, a Brazilian serpent of the 

 most yenomous kind, about eisrht feet 

 long, covered with scales of a yellowish 

 colour. 



BOLE, from Lat. bolus, a mass. An ar- 

 gillaceous mineral, having a conchoidal 

 fracture, a glimmering internal lustre, 

 and a shining streak. Its colours vary 

 from white through all the shades of yel- 

 low and brown to black. The terra sigil- 

 latee (sealed earths) were little cakes of 

 bole stamped with certain impressions, 

 and formerly in high repute as medicine. 

 The Armenian bole of the shops is a red 

 variety, the colour is due to an impregna- 

 tion of peroxide of iron. It is used as a 

 tooth powder. Bole of Blois is yellow; 

 Bohemian bole is orange ; French bole is 

 pale red, variegated by white and yellow 

 specks ; Lemnian bole is pale red ; Silesian 

 bole is pale yellow. 



BOLE'BO, a peculiar dance very popular 

 in Spain, and so called after its inventor. 



BOLET'IC, pertaining to the boletus. The 

 boletic acid is obtained from the juice of 

 the boletus pseudo-igniarius, a species of 

 fungi. 



BOLE'TUS, /3<aA/r)j?- 1. A fungus re- 

 ferred to the genus Lycoperdon. 2. A 



genus of mushrooms of the order Fungi. 

 "-ny of the species are poisonous, two 

 of them afford amadou (q. v.), and the bo- 

 letus sulphureus, on drying, evolves crys- 

 tals of pure oxalic acid. 



BOLIS, Lat. from fioXi?, a dart, a fire- 

 ball : a meteor seen darting through the 

 air, followed by a train of light or sparks. 



BOLL. 1. The pod or capsule of a plant, 

 a pericarp. 2. A measure of six bushels. 



BOL'LARDS, large pots set in the ground 

 at each side of docks ; to them are lashed 

 large blocks through which are reeved 

 the transporting hawsers for docking 

 and undocking ships. 



BOL'LAJID TIMBERS, in a ship, are two 

 timbers rising just within the stem, one 

 on each side of the bowsprit, to secure 

 its end. They are also called knight-heads. 



BOLOGNZSE SCHOOL. In painting, some- 

 times called the Lombard school, and the 

 eclectic school. It was founded by the 

 Caracci, and its object was to unite the 

 excellencies of the preceding schools. 



BOLOG'XIAN STONE, ) a pyropho- 



BOLOG'NIAN PHOSPHORUS, ) rus obtained 

 from sulphate of baryta by calcination 

 and exposure to the sun's rays. This 

 substance shines in the dark, a circum- 

 stance which was accidentally discovered 

 by one Vincenzio Casciarolo, a shoe- 

 maker of Bologna, about the middle of the 

 seventeenth century. 



BOL'STERS. 1. In nautical language, 



small bags filled with tarred canvas, 

 rope-yarn, Ac., to place under the shrouds 

 and stays to prevent their chafing against 

 the trestle-tree, by the motion of the 

 mast, when the ship rocks. 2. In sad- 

 dlery, the parts of a saddle raised upon 

 the bows to hold the rider's thighs. 



Boj/r, a strong cylindrical pin of iron 

 or other metal, used to fasten a door, 

 plank, &c. Those used for fastening doors 

 and windows, are plate-bolts, spring- 

 bolts, and flush-bolts. In ships, bolts are 

 used in the sides and decks, and have 

 different names, as rag-bolts, eye-bolts, 

 ring-bolts, chain-bolts, &c. In gunnery, 

 there are prize-bolts, transom-bolts, tra- 

 verse-bolts, and bracket-bolts. A. thunder- 

 bolt is a stream of lightning. A bolt of 

 canvas is 28 yards. 



BOLT'-AUGER, an auger of a large size 

 used in ship-building. 



BOT'TEL. See BOULTISE. 



BOLT-HEAD, a long, narrow-necked, 

 chemical glass vessel, usually employed 

 for digestions. It is otherwise called a 

 matrass. 



BOLTING-CLOTH, a linen or hair cloth of 

 which bolters are made for sifting flour. 



BOLT-ROPE, the rope to which the 

 edges of sails are sewed to strengthen 

 them. That part of it on the perpendi- 

 cular side is called the luck-rope ; that at 

 the bottom, the foot-rope; that at the 

 top, head-rope. 



BOM, an American serpent of a harm- 

 less nature, and remarkable for uttering 

 a sound like bam. 



BOMB, from bombus, & great noise. A 

 large hollow iron-ball or shell with a hole 

 in which a wooden fusee is cemented, and 

 furnished with two handles. It is filled 

 with powder and combustible matter, 

 and the fusee being inserted, it is dis- 

 charged from a mortar, in such a direc- 

 tion as to fall into a fort, city, or enemy's 

 camp, when it bursts with great vio- 

 lence, and often with terrible effect. 

 Bombs are used in sieges ; grenades in 

 the field ; the first are thrown from mar- 

 tars, the latter from howitzers. 



BOM'BARD, a piece of short thick ord- 

 nance with a large bore formerly used; 

 called also a basilisk, and by the Dutch a 

 donderbtiss or thunder-gun. Some bom- 

 bards carried balls of 300 Ibs. The name 

 is found in the French, Spanish, and Ita- 

 lian languages, and is composed of bomb 

 and ard, kind, but such guns are no 

 longer used. 



BOMBARDIERS. 1. Those who manage 



the mortars, which throw bombs. 2. 



A genus (Carabus} of the beetle tribe of 

 insects. 



BOMBAR'DO, a musical instrument of the 

 wind kind ; it resembles the bassoon, and 

 is used as a base to the hautboy. 



BUM'BAST, a stuff of a loose texture fo- 



